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RUINS IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 



Young Folks' 



HISTORY OF AMERICA. 



EDITED BY 

v' 
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH, 



AUTHOR OF "zigzag JOURNEYS IN EUROPE," " ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 

)S/' AND "ZIG 
THE ORIENT.' 



IN CLASSIC lands/' AND "ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN 



■■'^' > 



ILLUSTRATED 
WIT^ ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ENGRAVINGS. 

% 



^m^ 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY ESTES AND LAURIAT, 

301-^305 Washington Street. 
1881. 



'7> 



Copyright, 1881, 
By Estes and Lauriat. 

.3' 




PREFACE. 



The editor has sought the best materia.!s in the 
preparation of this History of America, and is in- 
debted to McKenzie's admirable History of the United 
States, a work published abroad some ten years ago, 
for the larger part of the text, and especially for the 
fine moral analyses in the parts having reference to 
the Puritans, to Slavery, and to the War for the 
Union. The opening and closing chapters, and the 
parts having especial reference to Canada, are, for the 
most part, original ; the text from McKenzie has been 
enlarged, revised, and edited ; stories have been inter- 
polated, and the illustrations have been selected from 
the best sources by the most competent editors. 
The publishers have thus aimed to present a work 
of unusual attractiveness and value. 

H. BUTTERWORTH. 
Boston, May, 1881. 



\y 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Ruins in Central America Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The Cradock Mansion 12- 

Phoenician Vessel 14 

Dighton Rock • • ^5 

Skeleton in Armor 16 

Mounds at Marietta, Ohio 17 , 

Mounds near Newark, Ohio 20 

Fragment of Ancient Pueblo Pottery 21 

Toltec Ruins, Yucatan 23. 

Siberian Elephant and Mastodon Restored '-25 

Indians in Council 27 

Coil-made Jar from Southern Utah 28 

Spanish Prior 31 

Columbus Watching for Land 33 . 

" Dreary ^Yith Ice and Snow " 37 

Ponce de Leon in the St. John's River 38 

Bivouac in Florida 39 i 

Burial of De Soto 43 

Home of the Alligator 46 

Tropical Forest 47 - 

Henry VIII 51 

Champlain 52 

Quebec in i6o8 53 

Chained Bible, Time of James 1 56 

Planting the Cross on New Lands 57 u 

Francis 1 60 

The Ruined Settlement 61 >^ 

Sir Walter Raleigh 64 

The Settlers at Jamestown % 65 -^ 

Clearing the Forest 68 

John Smith a Captive among the Indians 69 

Indian Attack on Settlers in Virginia 73 v 

Baptism of Virginia Dare 77 / 

Captain Smith and the Chief of Paspahegh 79 



viii List of Illustrations. 

PAGE 

Marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas 8i ^ 

" Meadows Stretched to the Eastward " 84 

Dinner Amusements at Port Royal 87 -- 

Baptism of Indians at Port Royal 91 

James 1 93 

The Mayflower at Sea 951 

William, Prince of Orange 97 

The Pilgrims Receiving Massasoit 101 

Many Visitors 105 

Oliver Cromwell 106 

Founding a New Settlement 107 

Charles I 109 

Dealing out the Five Kernels of Corn in ■ 

French and Dutch Quarrel 115, 

Destruction of the Narragansetts I2iv 

The Alarm 123 

Death in the Field .124 

Death of King Philip ^ . . . . 125 

Weetamo on a Raft 128 

Philip's Head Brought to Plymouth 129 . 

Monument to John Eliot 135 

Henry Hudson in the North River 137 

Charles H 140 

Dutch Traders at Manhattan 141 . 

Perm's Arrival in America 144 

Penn's Treaty with the Indians 145 

Dr. Johnson 148 

Penn's Colonists on the Delaware 150 ■■ 

George II 131 

Oglethorpe and the Indians 153 

Witchcraft at Salem Village . . . 161 

Whipping Quakers at the Cart's Tail in Boston 167 

Roger Williams in Peril for his Enemies . 171 

George Fox 173 

The Old and the New 175 ; 

Jam^s II. . 178 

George Washington 181 

Franklin 184 

Burke 185 

Death of General Braddock 191 -^ 

French and English Naval Conflict 195 



List of Ilhisti^aiions. ix 

PAGE 

Montcalm 198 

Death of Wolfe 199 1 

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham 206 

Samuel Adams 209 ;. 

Destruction of Tea 213 v. 

The Signal Lanterns 218 

Paul Revere's Ride 219 ,x 

Battle of Lexington 223 \y 

British at Colonel Barrett's 225 

Roads and Historic Localities at Concord, Mass 226 

Combat at the Bridge ... 227 i. 

Fight at Merriam's Corner 230 

Christ Church, the Old North Meeting-House ...... 232 

The Hancock House 236 

Faneuil Hall 237 

Andros a Prisoner in Boston 239 

Queen Mary - 241 

The Battle of Bunker Hill 243, 

The Old Powder-House at Somerville 247 

General Israel Putnam 251 v 

English Ships of-War 255 

Breed's and Bunker Hills 259 v 

Bunker Hill Monument 261 

The Washington Elm 262 

George III 271 

Continental Currency . . 273 

Washington Crossing the Delaware 277 

Lafayette 281 

English Attacked at Germantown . 285 

French Naval Victory 291 

The Assault 301 

1775 • 303 

Mount Vernon 309 

Fight between the Constellation and La Vengeance 31 iv 

The English Right of Search 315 

Sea-Fight, War of 1812 317 

English Captive in French and Indian War 32 1^ 

Jesuit Missionary Addressing the Indians 327 V 

Marquette and Joliet Discover the Mississippi 333, 

La Salle Claims the Mississippi Valley for France ^y] 

Murder of La Salle in Texas 341 



X List of Illustrations. 

PAGE I 

Emigrants on the St. Lawrence 347 %• 

Mule-jenny Spinning-frame 3C1 

Cotton Plant -yei 

Scene in Texas -jcq > / 

Daniel Webster -361 

General Taylor on the Rio Grande 364 

Spanish Monastery in Mexico 365^^ 

General Pierce Landing in Mexico 368 

The Land of Promise Z^'^'^ 

Gold Digging 372 

Crossing the Mountains ZIZ^/ 

Gold Washing in California 377 

Pioneer Life in the West 381 

Border Settlers 385 

Pioneer Travellers 389 

Home of a Western Pioneer 393 

Going to Court through Western Woods 399v^ 1 

1861 405 

Attack on Fort Sumter 409 

Passing through Baltimore 415 

Battle-Field . 430 

Slaves Escaping to Union Troops 433 

Battle of Antietam 437 

Plan of Battle of Gettysburg 447 

The Wilderness \ 457 

Camp Followers of Sherman's Army, Foraging 461 

Sheridan Turning the Tide of Battle 465 

Ruins in Richmond 471 

Negro Troops in Richmond 475 

President Lincoln in Richmond 479 

Assassination of Lincoln 481 

Capitol at Washington 487 

Horticultural Hall 495 

Bridge near Fairmount 499 

Memorial Hall 503 

The Main Building 507 

James A. Garfield 509 




THE CRADOCK MANSION. 

The oldest house in America ; built about 1634 by Matthew Cradock, the first 
Governor of the Massachusetts Colony. 



YOUNG FOLKS' 
HISTORY OF AMERICA. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE MYSTERIOUS RACES. 

It is highly probable that the American continent was 
known to the ancients, though in a somewhat imperfect way. 
Plato, four hundred years before our Saviour's time, gives a 
particular account of the great island of Atlantis, " an island 
that was larger than Libya (Africa) and Asia." Strabo and 
Pliny both mention a like mysterious island. We are told 
that this great territory was inhabited by a powerful people, 
who became so wicked that they were drowned by the judg- 
ment of heaven, and that the island itself, that was larger 
than Africa and Asia, sunk in the sea. For many years it 
was deemed dangerous for navigators to sail westward on 
account of the ruins of this mysterious island which, it was 
believed, strewed the waters and impeded the way. 

Atlantis may have been a fabulous land, but the Phoe- 
nicians or Canaanites had a knowledge of a country beyond 
the sea. Phoenicia, like England, once ruled the waves. 
Take the map of Asia and glance over the narrow strip of 
territory lying between the hills of Palestine and the sea. 
Here are the sites of Tyre and Sidon, the ancient London 
and Liverpool of the Mediterranean, into whose gay bazaars, 
glittering temples, and spacious palaces once flowed the lux- 



14 Young Folks' History of America. 

uries of the world. The ships of Phoenicia gathered the 
treasures of the Mediterranean, the Euxine, and the Adriatic, 
the vine-clad hills of Ionia and Italy, and the shores of 
Southern Europe and Northern Africa. The Pillars of Her- 
cules (Gibraltar) were for a long period believed to be the 
end of the world. 

The Phoenician sailers began to strike out beyond the 
Pillars of Hercules. They visited the British Islands for tin, 




PHCENICIAN VESSEL. 



and the shores of the Baltic for amber. We are told that 
certain of these navigators were once driven on to a wonder- 
fully fertile island in the Western Ocean, and that it was their 
purpose to keep this discovery a secret. 

THE WRITING ROCK AND SKELETON IN ARMOR. 

Among the most marked evidences that the coast of New 
England was visited by old-time mariners long before the 
coming of the Spanish voyagers and the Pilgrims, are the 
well-preserved relics known as the Writing Rock, at Dighton, 



The Writing Rock. 



15 



Massachusetts, the Skeleton in Armor found at Fall River, and 
that ancient landmark, the Old Stone Tower, at Newport. 

The celebrated Writing Rock at Dighton is situated on the 
Taunton River, a stream associated with many Indian tradi- 
tions and events of colonial history. It is often visited by 
antiquaries, and its inscriptions are well preserved. It con- 
sists of a solitary mass of fine-grained granite, lying on the 
sands of the river, a few feet above low-water mark, but cov- 
ered with water at each rising of the tide. On the water side 
it presents an inclined plane, the face of which, eleven feet 




DIGHTON ROCK. 



by five feet, seems to have been originally covered with sculp- 
tures and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The face of the rock is 
extremely hard, and, however old the inscriptions may be, 
those that rise above the low-water mark can have undergone 
but little change from the action of the elements. 

The rock was noticed by the Pilgrims, but received little 
attention from historians and antiquaries until the years 
1834-35, when a most extraordinary relic was found a few 
miles distant, in the town of Fall River. In digging down a 
hill near the town, a mass of earth slid off, uncovering a 
human skull, which was found to belong to a skeleton buried 



i6 



Young Folks History of America. 



in a sitting posture, enveloped in a covering of bark. This 
envelope was removed, when the astonished workman saw 
that the trunk of this skeleton was encased in a breastplate 
of brass. The breastplate, which was similar to that which 
Homer describes as having been worn by Hector, was thirteen 
inches long, six inches broad at the upper end and about 

five inches at the lower. 
It was evidently cast in a 
furnace, and was about 
one-eighth of an inch in 
thickness. 

But what is most remark- 
able about this armor is, 
that it seems to have no 
association with the armo- 
rial customs of Northern or 
Eastern Europe, nor with 
any recent historical date. 
Below the breastplate, and 
entirely encircling the body, was a belt composed of brass 
tubes, each four and a half inches in length and three-six- 
teenths of an inch in diameter. The tubes were cast upon 
hollow reeds, and were so prepared as to protect the vulner- 
able parts of the body below the breastplate. 

Who were these mysterious and unknown mariners^ The 
poet Longfellow, in his " Skeleton in Armor," associates this 
nameless hero with the builders of the round arch tower at 
Newport, which the Danes claim as the work of their ances- 
tors. Out of the materials thus supplied the poet weaves a 
fanciful story, which is familiar to many of my readers : — 

" Speak, speak, thou fearful guest, 
Who with thy hollow breast, 
Still in rude armor drest, 
Comest to daunt me ! "^ 




THE SKELETON IN ARMOR. 



The Mound-Builders. 19 

To which the skeleton in armor is supposed to begin his 
story thus : — 

'* Far in the Northern land, 
By the wild Baltic strand, 
I, with my childish hand, 
Tamed the ger-falcon." 

The researches of travellers and antiquaries have, however, 
thrown discredit upon the romantic narrative that follows 
these lines. Both the skeleton and the inscription on the 
Writing Rock seem to be of Asiatic origin. Several care- 
ful writers on the subject believe the Writing Rock to contain 
a representation of the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar), and 
that the mail-clad hero was one of the crew of a Phoenician 
vessel who passed the Pillars of Hercules and crossed the 
Atlantic. The armor is the same as appears in drawings 
taken from the sculptures found at Palenque, Mexico, which 
has led to the supposition that an Asiatic race transiently 
settled in North America, and afterwards went to Mexico and 
founded those rock-walled cities, in exploring the ruins of 
which such astonishing evidences of Asiatic civilization have 
been discovered. A portion of the North American Indians 
and certain tribes of the Aztecs in Mexico had distinct tradi- 
tions of the flood. 

THE MOUND-BUILDERS. "^\. 

Of all the vanished races of antiquity the Mound-builders 
are among the most mysterious and interesting. Their 
mounds are to be found principally in the West, and are nu- 
merous in the Mississippi Valley. A mound until recently 
was to be seen on the plain of Cahokia, Illinois, nearly oppo- 
site the city of St. Louis, Missouri, that was seven hundred 
feet long, five hundred feet broad, ninety feet high, and that 
overed more than eight acres of ground. Some of these 



20 



Young Folks History of America. 



mounds in Wisconsin and Iowa are in the shape of huge ani- 
mals ; and there is one near Brush Creek, Adams County, 




if V'i 




MOUNDS NEAR NEWARK, OHIO. 



Ohio, that is in the form of a serpent, and that is more than 
one thousand feet in length. The mouth of this strange 
figure is open, as in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval 



The Mound-Builders. 



21 



substance, which is also curiously made of earth-works. This 
oval mound is thought to represent an ^gg. 

At Marietta, Ohio, are ancient works that cover an area 
about three-fourths of a mile long, and half a mile broad. 
" There are two irregular squares, one containing fifty acres, 
and the other twenty-seven acres, together with the crowning 
work standing apart, which is a mound thirty feet high, ellip- 
tical in form, and enclosed by a circular embankment." 

But the most intricate, and perhaps the most extensive, of 
the works of the Mound-builders are those in the Licking 
Valley, near Newark, Ohio, extending over an area of two 
square miles. Why they were built we may not even con- 
jecture, but that they were constructed with almost infinite 
toil by a superior race of people, under skilled direction and 
for some definite purpose, no one can deny who examines 
them. 

Many of these mounds 
have been found to con- 
tain skeletons ; and the 
appearance of the bones 
would seem to point to 
an antiquity of two thou- 
sand or more years. Curi- 
ous pottery, known as the 
" coil-made," has been 
found in the mounds and 
caves, and at the ruined 

FRAGMENT OF ANCIENT PUEBLO POTTERY. 

pueblos m Utah. Ves- 
sels of various forms and sizes were made, without the pot- 
ter's wheel, by coiling bands of clay upon themselves. On 
the outside the projecting edges of these coils often formed 
bands or ridges, which were cut into diamond-shaped figures, 
marked with the thumb-nail, or otherwise ornamented, as 
shown in the engraving of the coil-made jar. 




22 Yoimg Folks History of America. 

The ancient Mexican pyramids, teocallis, or temples of the 
sun, were still more remarkable. Two of the most ancient 
of these, near the city of Mexico, were each nearly two hun- 
dred feet high, and the larger of these two covers an area of 
eleven acres, which is nearly equal to that of the Pyramid of 
Cheops, in Egypt. The ancient city of Mexico contained 
nearly two thousand temples and structures, and it is believed 
that there were some forty thousand in the whole empire. 

Who built these mounds in the Mississippi Valley, and these 
pyramids in Mexico ? Not the Indians who were found in 
America when the country was discovered. They are the 
productions of greater skill and culture than these tribes pos- 
sessed. They aie doubtless the monuments of a vanished 
people, whose coming and going and splendid history must 
ever remain to a great extent a mystery. - 

Antiquaries have furnished many theories to answer this 
question which arises in the mind of every student of history. 
Some have maintained that the Mound-builders and the mys- 
terious people who preceded the Aztecs in Mexico were the 
descendants of crews from Japan, whose ships had been ac- 
cidentally driven across the Pacific. 

A more reasonable solution is that these people migrated 
from Asia. 

Take your map : look at the Isthmus of Suez ; cross Cen- 
tral Asia to Siberia ; carefully examine Behring Strait ; run 
your eye down the western coast and the Mississippi Valley, 
thence to Mexico, thence across the Isthmus of Panama to 
Peru. You have now passed over the supposed track of an 
Asiatic race, possibly the Shepherd Kings. 

Who were the Shepherd Kings ? 

They came down to Egypt from Central India, driving 
their flocks before thq^n, about the time of the building of the 
Tower of Babel. They conquered Egypt, built the pyramids, 
but were at last overcome by the ancient inhabitants, and 




TOLTEC RUINS, YUCATAN. 



The Mound-Builders. 



25 



driven away from the Nile. They wandered back into Cen- 
tral Asia. In Siberia, it would seem, they erected mounds 
like those in the Mississippi Valley. They are then supposed 
to have journeyed north, crossed Behring Strait, which was 
then very narrow, passed through Alaska to the temperate 
zone, and pushed south to Mexico, Central America, and Peru. 




THE SIBERIAN ELEPHANT AND MASTODON RESTORED. 

We do not say that this theory is proven to be true : it has 
many things to support it. It is so interesting and it makes 
the ancient Egyptians seem so neighborly, we could wish it to 
be true. 

That access from Asia to America was easy centuries ago, 
possibly by land connection, is evident from the discovery in 
Siberia and on the Pacific coast, in Alaska, of the remains of 
the Siberian elephant. 



26 YouJig Folks History of America. 

THE INDIANS. 

The Indians do not seem to have sprung from the Mound- 
builders or the founders of the ancient Mexican Empire. 
They may have been the descendants of MongoHan emigrants 
who crossed at different times the Strait of Behring. 

Nearly all the Indian tribes that inhabited the continent at 
the time of its discovery are gone. They have vanished, 
like the forests they inhabited, and the beasts of prey they 
hunted. New England was once the home of the Narragan- 
setts, the Pequots, the Mohegans, but nothing but the names 
of these tribes remain ; the Iroquois dwelt by the great lakes 
of Erie and Huron, and the Algonquin nations inhabited the 
centre of the continent. Beyond the Algonquin territory 
lived the Dacotahs, on the prairies of the west, while on 
the south were the Tuscaroras, the Catawbas, the Creeks, 
and the Seminoles. With the exception of the Seminoles 
and the Dacotahs, hardly a remnant of these tribes remains ; 
the church-spires rise and the school-bells ring where their 
wigwams clustered, and the locomotives roll through the fair 
valleys where they once smoked the pipe of peace, and 
under the pine-plumed hills against which their war-cry was 
raised. 

They were a race of tall, powerful men — copper-colored, 
with hazel eye, high cheek-bone, and coarse black hair. In 
manner they were grave, and not without a measure of dig- 
nity. They had courage, but it was of that kind which is 
greater in suffering than in doing. They were true to their 
friends, but to their enemies they were cunning, treacherous, 
and cruel. Civilization could lay no hold upon them. They 
quickly learned to use the white man's musket. They never 
learned to use the tools of the white man's industry. They 
developed a love for intoxicating drink, passionate and irre- 
sistible beyond all example. The first setders of New Eng- 



The Indians. 



27 



land intended to treat them as Christian men should. They 
took no land from them. What land they required they 
bought and paid for. Nearly all of New England's soil was 




INDIANS IN COUNCIL. 



come by with scrupulous honesty. The friendship of the 
Indians was anxiously cultivated, — sometimes from fear, 
oftener from pity. But nothing could stay their progress 
towards extinction. Inordinate drunkenness and the gradual 



28 



Yotmg Folks' History of America. 



limitation of their hunting-grounds told fatally on their num- 
bers. And occasionally the English were forced to march 
against some tribe which refused to be at peace, and to 
inflict a defeat which left few survivors. 




COIL-MADE JAR FROM SOUTHERN UTAH. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE GREAT DISCOVERY, A. D. 1492. 

It was late in the history of the world before Europe and 
America became known to each other. During the first fif- 
teen centuries of the Christian era Europe was unaware of the 
vast continent which lay beyond the sea. 

Men had been slow to establish completely their dominion 
over the sea. They learned very early to build ships. They 
availed themselves very early of the surprising power which 
the helm exerts over the movements of a ship. But, during 
many ages, they found no surer guidance upon the pathless 
sea than that which the position of the sun and the stars af- 
forded. When clouds intervened to deprive them of these 
uncertain guides, they were helpless. They were thus obliged 
to keep the land in view, and content themselves with creep- 
ing timidly along the coast. 

At length there was discovered a stone which the wise 
Creator had endowed with strange properties. It was ob- 
served that a needle brought once into contact with that stone 
pointed ever afterwards steadfastly to the north. Men saw 
that with a needle thus influenced they could guide them- 
selves at sea as surely as on land. The mariners' compass 
untied the bond which held sailors to the coast, and gave 
them liberty to push out upon the sea. 

Just when sailors were slowly learning to put confidence in 
the mariners' compass, there arose in Europe a vehement 
desire for the discovery of unknown countries. A sudden 
interest sprang up in all that was distant and unexplored. 



30 Young Folks History of America. 

The strange fables told by travellers were greedily received. 
The human mind was beginning to cast off the torpor of the 
Middle Ages. As intelligence increased, men became in- 
creasingly eager to ascertain the form and extent of the world 
in which they dwelt, and to acquaint themselves with those 
unknown races who were their fellow-inhabitants. 

Portugal and Spain, looking out upon the boundless sea, 
were powerfully stirred by the new impulse. The courts of 
Lisbon and Madrid swarmed with adventurers who had made 
discoveries, or who wished the means to make them. Con- 
spicuous among these was an enthusiast, who during eighteen 
years had not ceased to importune incredulous monarchs for 
ships and men that he might open up the secrets of the sea. 
He was a tall man, of grave and gentle manners, and noble 
though saddened look. His eye was gray, '^ apt to enkindle " 
when he spoke of those discoveries in the making of which 
he felt himself to be Heaven's chosen agent. He had known 
hardship and sorrow in his youth, and at thirty his hair was 
white. His name was Christopher Columbus. In him the 
universal passion for discovery rose to the dignity of an in- 
spiration. 

THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. 

Christopher Columbus, or Columbo, was bom at Genoa, 
Italy, about the year 1436 (Irving). He was of a humble 
family, and one of his early employments was feeding swine. 
But he had a high spirit and a restless religious zeal, and he 
engaged in the life of a mariner at the age of fourteen. He 
thirsted for knowledge, and studied geometry, astronomy, ge- 
ography, navigation, and the Latin language, at the University 
of Pavia. From this time he stored his mind with knowledge, 
and it was this studiousness that put it in his power to so in- 
terest a good Spanish prior in his schemes for exploration as 
to lead to his successful introduction to the court of Spain. 



1497- The Story of America's Name. 49 

bers of which lay about, some dead, some alive, some roast- 
ing on the coals. Vespucius did not know what they were, 
and describes them as ^^ serpents about the size of a kid, with 
hard, filthy skins, dog snouts, and long, coarse feet armed 
with large nails." 

At length the natives grew less timid, and finally welcomed 
the discoverer, and treated him so hospitably that he re- 
mained nearly a fortnight, visiting their inland villages and 
picking up all the information he could. When he returned, 
hundreds of the people followed him to the shore, and even 
insisted upon going aboard his ship. 

As they climbed over the gunwales and swarmed about the 
decks, suddenly Vespucius gave the signal to have the cannon 
fired. The artillery thundered forth its smoke, and in a sec- 
ond every one of the red-skinned crowd dived into the water 
like frogs off a log. Reassuring them, at length, by explana- 
tions, the admiral completely won the confidence of this 
peaceful tribe, and when parting-time came, they exchanged 
presents with him. From this place he sailed north-west, 
exploring the coast, and finally put into the bay. of Cumana, 
Venezuela, where he remained thirty-seven days, making in- 
land journeys and getting acquainted with the natives. 

These entertained prodigious notions of the white man's 
power and prowess, and, when Vespucius began to talk of 
going away, begged him as a favor to punish their enemies, 
who lived, they said, on an island in the sea, and every year 
came and killed and ate a great many of their tribe. The 
navigator promised to avenge their wrongs, at which they 
were much pleased, and offered to accompany him on the 
expedition, but he refused to take more than seven of them. 

When Vespucius arrived at the island, the warlike canni- 
bals came down to the shore in battle array, carrying bows, 
arrows, lances, and clubs, and were painted and feathered in 
true Indian style. A severe fight followed. At first the 

4 



50 YotC7tg Folks History of America. 

Spaniards got no advantage, for the savages pressed them so 
closely that they could not use their swords. At last the edge 
of Castilian steel sent the naked foe scampering back to the 
woods and mountains. 

Vespucius tried to make friends with these cannibals, but 
that was out of the question now. Their voice was still for 
war, and the admiral finally determined to give them enough 
of it. He fought them two days, took two hundred and 
fifty of them prisoners, burned their town, and sailed away. 

On the 15th of October, 1498, Vespucius was back in 
Cadiz, whence he started. His two hundred and fifty 
cannibal prisoners he sold for slaves, justify in^g the act, ac- 
cording to the morality of his times, on the ground that they 
were enemies taken in war. 

This is the voyage in which the discovery of America was 
made which gave it its name. 



CHAPTER III. 



SEEKING HOMES IN THE NEW LAND. 

In comparison with the great empires of the East, Ameri- 
ca's history begins at a very recent date. Yet if we note the 
events of that history in connection with English history, we seem 
to be carried far back into the past. It was during the reign 
of Henry VII. of England that America was discovered, that 
Acadia was first seen 
by the Cabots, that 
Americus Vespucius 
made the famous 
voyage that gave to 
the western world its 
name. It was during 
the reign of Henry 
VIII. that Florida 
was visited by Ponce 
de Leon ( i 5 i 2 ) , that 
the Pacific Ocean was 
discovered by Balboa 
(15 13), that Cortez 
beheld the shining 
cities of the Aztecs 
and captured Monte- 
zuma (15 21), that Cartier gazed on the St. Lawrence, and De 
Soto on the Mississippi. It was during the reign of Elizabeth 
that Sir Walter Raleigh made his expeditions, that Gosnold 
discovered Cape Cod (1602), that Quebec was founded by 




HENRY VIII. 



52 



Yoimg Folks History of America. 



the French under Champlain (1608), and that Hendrick 
Hudson explored the Hudson River. All these things took 
place before the reigns of the Jameses, the Charleses, and the 
Georges. It seems a long time to look back to the reigns 
of the Henries. 




CHAMPLAIN. 



It was not a pleasant world which the men and women of 
Europe had to live in during the sixteenth century. Fighting 
was the constant occupation of the kings of that time. .A 
year of peace was a rare and somewhat wearisome exception. 




QUEBEC IN 1608. 



i6o4. James I. and Parliametit. 55 

Kings habitually, at their own unquestioned pleasure, gath- 
ered their subjects together, and marched them off to slay and 
plunder their neighbors. Civil wars were frequent. In these 
confused strifes men slew their acquaintances and friends as 
the only method they knew of deciding who was to fill the 
throne. Feeble Commerce was crushed under the iron heel 
of War. No such thing as security for hfe or property was 
expected. The fields of the husbandman were trodden down 
by the march of armies. Disbanded or deserted soldiers 
wandered as " masterless men " over the country, and robbed 
and murdered at their will. Highwaymen abounded, al- 
though highways could scarcely be said to exist. Epidemic 
diseases of strange type, the result of insufficient feeding and 
the poisonous air of undrained lands and filthy streets, deso- 
lated all European countries. Under what hardships and 
miseries the men of the sixteenth century passed their days, 
it is scarcely possible for us now to conceive. 

The Enghsh Parliament once reminded James I. of certain 
"undoubted rights" which they possessed. The king told 
them, in reply, that he " did not like this style of talking, but 
would ratiier hear them say that all their privileges were de- 
rived b}' che grace and permission of the sovereign." Europe, 
durii.g the sixteenth century, had no better understanding of 
the matter than James had. It was not supposed that the 
king was made for the people. It seemed rather to be 
thought that the people were made for the king. Here and 
there some man wiser than ordinary perceived the truth, so 
familiar to us, that a king is merely a great officer allowed 
by the people to do certain work for them. There was a 
Glasgow professor who taught in those dark days that the 
authority of the king was derived from the people, and ought 
to be used for their good. Two of his pupils were John Knox 
the reformer, and George Buchanan the historian, by whom 
this doctrine, so great and yet so simple, was clearly perceived 



56 



Young Folks' History of America. 



and firmly maintained. But to the great mass of mankind 
it seemed that the king had divine authority to dispose of his 
subjects and their property according to his pleasure. Poor 
patient humanity still bowed in lowly reverence before its 
kings, and bore, without wondering or murmuring, all that 

it pleased them 
to inflict. No 
stranger supersti- 
tion has ever 
possessed the hu- 
man mind than 
this boundless 
mediaeval venera- 
tion for the king, 
• — a veneration 
which follies the 
most abject, vices 
the most enor- 
mous, were not 
able to quench. 

But as this un- 
happy century 
draws towards its 
close, the ele- 
ments of a most 
benign change 
are plainly seen 
at work. The 
Bible has been 
largely read. The Bible is the book of all ages and of 
all circumstances. But never, surely, since its first gift to 
man, was it more needful to any age than to that which now 
welcomed its restoration with wonder and delight. It took 
deep hold on the minds of men. It exercised a silent influ- 




CHAINHD EIELE, TIME OF JAMES I. 



1534- Jacques Cartier and Canada. 59 

ence which gradually changed the aspect of society. The 
narrative portions of Scripture were especially acceptable to 
the untutored intellect of that time ; and thus the Old Testa- 
ment was preferred to the New. This preference led to some ' 
mistakes. Rules which had been given to an ancient Asiatic 
people were applied in circumstances for which they were 
never intended or fitted. It is easy to smile at these mis- 
takes. But it is impossible to overestimate the social and 
political good which we now enjoy as a result of this incessant 
reading of the Bible by the people of the sixteenth century. 

In nearly all European countries the king claimed to regu- 
late the rehgious behef of his subjects. Even in England 
that power was still claimed. The people were beginning to 
suspect that they were entitled to think for themselves, — a 
suspicion which grew into an indignant certainty, and widened 
and deepened till it swept from the throne the unhappy 
House of Stuart. 



JACQUES CARTIER AND CANADA. 

Jacques Cartier, who may be called the founder of Canada, 
was born at Saint Malo, France, in 1494. He had a resolute 
spirit, and the news of the wonderful lands that were being 
discovered and explored beyond the sea filled him with a 
desire for maritime adventure. He was intrusted by Francis I. 
with the command of an expedition to explore the Western 
Hemisphere. He sailed from the beautiful port of Saint Malo 
in April, 1534, with two ships and one hundred and twenty 
men, and in twenty days reached the coast of Newfoundland. 
He next sailed north, entered the Strait of Belle Isle, and 
planting the cross on Labrador took possession of the land 
in the name of his king. He deceived the natives by telling 
them with signs that the cross was only set up as a beacon. 
He explored the Bay of Chaleur, which he thus describes : 



6o 



Young Folks History of America. 



" The country is hotter than the country of Spain, and the 
fairest that can possibly be found, altogether smooth and 
level. There is no place, be it never so little, but it hath 
some trees, yea, albeit it be sandy ; or else is full of wild 
corn, that hath an ear like unto rye. The corn is like oats, 
and small peas, as thick as if they had been sown and 
ploughed, white and red gooseberries, strawberries, black- 
berries, white and red 
roses, with many other 
flowers of very sweet 
and pleasant smell. 
There be also many 
goodly meadows full 
of grass, and lakes 
where plenty of sal- 
mons be. We named 
it the bay of heat 
(Chaleur)." On the 
shores of the Bay of 
Gasp6 he again planted 
the cross. He ap- 
proached the Indians 
whom he met on these 
explorations in a most 
friendly manner. He 
so won their confidence that one of the chiefs allowed him to 
take his two sons back to Saint Malo on condition that he would 
return with them in the following year. He doubled the east 
point of Anticosti, and entered the St. Lawrence as far as Mount 
Joly. . In September he returned to France in triumph, and 
his name and fame filled the nation and inspired, the young 
and chivalrous to seek like romantic exploits. 

The French king fitted out a new expedition for this bold 
and able commander, and the young nobility of France 




FRANCIS I. 




THE RUINED SETTl,EMENT, 



1535- Jacques Cartier and Canada. 63 

favored it, and some of them joined it. This expedition 
sailed in May, 1535. The mariners assembled in the cathe- 
dral, on Whit-Sunday before the sailing, where solemn mass 
was celebrated, and the bishop imparted his blessing. 

In July these ships entered the St. Lawrence, and sailed on 
its broad waters amid scenery which realized their glowing 
expectations and dreams. On September i they came to 
the mouth of the wonderful river Saguenay, and on the 14th 
arrived at the entrance of a river at Quebec, now known as 
the St. Charles. 

Cartier was here visited by Donnacona, the so-called king 
of Canada. The two Indians whom he had taken the year 
before from Gaspe acted as interpreters on this occasion. 
Cartier continued to explore this wonderful and beautiful 
region. In a small boat he sailed from the Lake St. Peter to 
an Indian settlement called Hochelaga, 'where he arrived 
October 2. This place he named Mount Royal. It is now 
the magnificent city of Montreal. 

The Canadian winter dampened the ardor of the adven- 
turers and depleted their number. In the spring Cartier 
again sailed for France, taking with him the king of Canada 
and nine Indian chiefs. 

Cartier was now appointed viceroy of the territories he 
had di^vered, and made a new expedition to them in 1541. 
Liade a fourth voyage in 1543. He died about the year 

1555- 

On his return in 1541 he was met by savages, who asked 
for their king. "Donnacona is dead," Cartier replied ; and 
he told them that the other chiefs had married in France, 
— a falsehdod the Indians pretended to believe. 

In^Iie spring of 1542 Cartier broke up his colony and 
returned to France ; but Robermal arrived about the same 
time, and established a settlement which had but a brief 
existence. 



64 



Young Folks' History of America. 



THE STORY OF VIRGINIA. 



Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh, who was 
one of the most 
learned Eng- 
lishmen of his 
age, and was at 
one time a fa- 
vorite of Queen 
Elizabeth, spent 
a large fortune 
in attempting to 
colonize Vir- 
ginia. He suc- 
ceeded in di- 
recting the at- 
tention of his 
countrymen to 
the region which 
had kindled his 
own enthusiasm. 
But his colonies never prospered. Sometimes the colonists 
returned home disgusted by the hardslii|)s of the wilderness. 
Once they were massacred by the Indians. When help came 
from England the infant settlement was in ruins. The bones 
of unburied men lay about the fields ; wild deer strayed 
among the untenanted houses. One colony wholly disap- 
peared. To this day its fate is unknown. 

In 1606 a charter from the king established a company 
whose function was to colonize, whose privilege was to 
trade. The company sent out an expedition to Vircrinia, 
which sailed in three small vessels. ,c consisted of one 




SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



1492. 



The Story of Columbus. 



31 



For, one day, hungry and weary and discouraged that no 
one would favor his enterprises, he stopped to rest in the 
shadow of an old Spanish convent. It was high noon, and 
he asked the prior for a cup of water. The monk brought 
him the draught, and stopped to talk with him while he rested. 
He was astonished at the schemes, visions, and learning of 
the weary Genoese, and he promised to use his influence in 
his behalf with the 
Spanish court ; and 
in that chance hour 
the destiny of the 
Western World, then 
unknown, was in ef- 
fect changed, and a 
new continent was 
added to the dia- 
dems of Aragon 
and Castile. Had 
his mind been less 
stored with the ac- 
quirements of his 
well -spent youth, 
when he stopped to 

rest in the shadow of the convent, the map of the world 
might have been different to-day. The incident affords a 
telling lesson to the young, and aptly illustrates the value of 
a well-stored mind. 

Columbus was convinced by his studies that the world 
must be spherical in form, and that there was probably 
land on the western side to counterbalance that on the 
east. He thought this land would prove to be a continu- 
ance of Asia. Lisbon was famous for the exploits of her 
mariners. Columbus went to Lisbon, and there mar- 
ried the daughter of a* famous navigator, whose charts and 




SPANISH PRIOR. 



32 Young Folks History of America. 

journals filled his mind with an unquenchable desire for 
discovery. 

He applied to the senate of his . native city for ships, but 
in vain. He next sought the patronage of the king of Portu- 
gal, but was disappointed. In 1484 he turned to Spain, and 
procured an interview with Ferdinand, king of Aragon. The 
cautious monarch heard his story, and referred his theory to 
the learned men of the University of Salamanca. Some of 
these wise men concluded that if there were indeed land on 
the other side of the globe the people there must be obliged 
to walk about with heads downward, as their feet would be 
pointed upward ; and as this would not be an agreeable 
country to explore, they dismissed the subject. 

But, at last, Columbus obtained a hearing of a more sus- 
ceptible auditor at the Spanish court. Queen Isabella heard 
his story and favored his cause. She is said to have parted 
with some of her jewels to procure ships for the enthusiastic 
adventurer. To one woman, his wife, Columbus owed the 
fostering of his inspiration, and to another, the Spanish queen, 
the means of carrying forward his plans and fulfilling his 
dreams. 

No sailor of our time would cross the Atlantic in such 
ships as were given to Columbus. In size they resembled 
the smaller of our river and coasting vessels. Only one of 
them was decked. The others were open, save at the prow 
and stern, where cabins were built for the crew. The sailors 
went unwillingly and in much fear, compelled by an order 
from the king. 

And now the feeble squadron of three ships is on the sea, 
and the prows are turned toward the waste of waters, in whose 
mysterious distances the sun seemed to set. It is Friday, 
Aug. 3, 1492. On Sunday, September 9, the timid crews 
passed the farthest known island. Out on the unknown 
sea, the mariners' compass no longer pointed directly north. 



1492. The Story of Columbus. 35 

and awe and terror seized the sailors, as the distance be- 
tween them and the land grew wider and wider. 

The ships moved on under serene skies. Trade winds 
blew from east to west. The air at last grew balmy, and fields 
of sea-weed began to appear. Land birds lit upon the spars. 

One evening, just at sunset, — it was September 25, — 
Martin Alonzo Pinzon mounted the stern of the Pinta, and 
peered into the far distance. A reward had been offered to 
the person who should first discover land. Pinzon descried 
a shadowy appearance far over the western sea, and cried out 
in great excitement, — 

"Land ! land! I claim the promised reward, Senor. 
Land ! " 

Columbus threw himself upon his knees and led the crews 
in singing Gloria in excelsis. 

In the morning after the supposed discovery nothing but 
the wide waters appeared. The supposed island was but a 
cloud. 

For a fortnight more the ships drifted on over the quiet 
waters. The seamen lost heart again and again in this awful 
unexplored space. They mutinied, but the lofty spirit of 
their leader disarmed them. At last, birds came singing 
again j a branch of thorn with berries floated by the ships. A 
vesper hymn to the Virgin was sung in the evening that these 
indications of land were discovered. 

" We shall see land in the morning," said Columbus. 

He stood upon the deck all that night peering into the dim 
starlit spaces. At midnight he beheld a light. The morning 
came. Beautifully wooded shores rose in view. Birds of 
gorgeous plumage hovered around them. The crews set off 
from the ships in small boats. Columbus first stepped upon 
the shore. 

The crews knelt on the strand and kissed the earth. They 
wept and chanted hymns of praise. 



36 Young Folks History of America, 

Then Columbus unfurled the banner of Spain, and claimed 
the land in the name of the Spanish sovereigns. The triumph 
was a realization of all the navigator's visions and dreams. 

Columbus knew not the magnitude of his discovery. He 
died in the behef that he had merely discovered a shorter 
route to India. He ne^-er enjoyed that which would have 
been the best recompense for all his toil, — the knowledge 
that he had added a vast continent to the possessions of civi- 
lized men. 

The revelation by Columbus of the amazing fact that there 
were lands beyond the great ocean, inhabited by strange races 
of human beings, roused to a passionate eagerness the thirst 
for fresh discoveries. The splendors of the newly found 
world were indeed difficult to be resisted. Wealth beyond 
the wildest dreams of avarice could be had, it was said, for the 
gathering. The sands of every river sparkled with gold. 
The very color of the ground showed that gold was profusely 
abundant. The meanest of the Indians ornamented himself 
with gold and jewels. The walls of the houses glittered with 
pearls. There was a fountain, if one might but find it, whose 
waters bestowed perpetual youth upon the bather. The wild- 
est romances were greedily received, and the Old World, with 
its famihar and painful realities, seemed mean and hateful 
beside the fabled glories of the New. 

The men of the nations of Europe whose trade was fighting 
turned gladly to the world where boundless wealth was to be 
wrung from the grasp of unwarlike barbarians. England and 
France had missed the splendid prize which Columbus had 
won for Spain. They hastened now to secure what they could. 

A merchant of Bristol, John Cabot, obtained permission 
from the king of England to make discoveries in the northern 
parts of America. Cabot was to bear all expenses, and the 
king was to receive one-fifth 'of the gains of the adventure. 
Taking with him his son Sebastian, John Cabot sailed straight 



1497- 



Voyage of yohn Cabot. 



37 



westward across the Atlantic. He reached the North Ameri- 
can continent, of which he was the undoubted discoverer 
(1497). The result to him was disappointing. He landed 
on the coast of Labrador. Being in the same latitude as 
England, he reasoned that he should find the same genial 
climate. To his astonishment he came upon a region of 
intolerable cold, dreary with ice and snow. John Cabot had 
not heard of the Gulf 
Stream and its marvellous 
influences. He did not 
know that the western 
shores of Northern Europe 
are rescued from perpetual 
winter, and warmed up to 
the enjoyable temperature 
which they possess, by an 
enormous river of warm 
water flowing between 
banks of cold water east- 
ward from the Gulf of 
Mexico. The Cabots made 
many voyages afterwards, 
and explored the Ameri- 
can coast from extreme 
north to extreme south. 

The French turned their 
attention to the northern 
parts of the New World. The rich fisheries of Newfoundland 
attracted them. A Frenchman sailed up the great St. Law- 
rence River. After some failures a French settlement was 
established there, and for a century and a half the French 
peopled Canada. 

Spanish adventurers never rested from their eager search 
after the treasures of the new continent. An aged warrior 




"dreary with ice and snow." 



38 



Young Folks History of America. 



called Ponce de Leon fitted out an expedition at his own cost. 
He had heard of the marvellous fountain whose waters would 
restore to him the years of his wasted youth. He searched 
in vain. The fountain would not reveal itself to the foolish 
old man, and he had to bear without relief the burden of his 
profitless years. But he found a country hitherto unseen by 




PONCE DE LEON IN THE ST. JOHN's RIVER. 

Europeans, which was clothed with magnificent forests, and 
seemed to bloom with perpetual flowers. He called it 
Florida. He attempted to found a colony in the paradise 
he had discovered. But the natives attacked him, slew many 
of his men, and drove the rest to their ships, carrying with 
them their chief, wounded by the poisoned arrow of an 
Indian. 



1539- De Soto's Expedition. 41 

Ferdinand de Soto had been with Pizarro, who had made 
an expedition to Peru, and returned to Spain enriched with 
plunder. He did not doubt that in the north were cities as 
rich and barbarians as confiding. An expedition to discover 
new regions, and plunder their inhabitants, was fitted out 
under his command. No one doubted that success equal to 
that of Cortes and Pizarro would attend this new adventure. 
The youth of Spain were eager to be permitted to go, and 
they sold their houses and lands to buy the needful equip- 
ment. Six hundred men, in the prime of life, were chosen 
from the crowd of applicants, and the expedition sailed, high 
in courage, splendid in aspect, boundless in expectation. 
They landed on the coast of Florida, and began their march 
into the wilderness. They had fetters for the Indians whom 
they meant to take captive. They had bloodhounds, lest 
these captives should escape. The camp swarmed with 
priests, and as they marched the festivals and processions 
enjoined by the Church were devoutly observed. 

From the outset it was a toilsome and perilous enterprise ; 
but to the Spaniard of that time danger was a joy. The 
Indians were warlike, and generally hostile. De Soto had 
pitched battles to fight and heavy losses to bear. Always he 
was victorious, but he could ill afford the cost of many such 
victories. The captive Indians amused him with tales of 
regions where gold abounded. They had learned that igno- 
rance on that subject was very hazardous. De Soto had 
stimulated their knowledge by burning to death some who 
denied the existence of gold in that country. The Spaniards 
wandered slowly northwards. They looked eagerly for some 
great city, the plunder of whose palaces and temples would 
enrich them all. They found nothing better than occasion- 
ally an Indian town, composed of a few miserable huts. It 
was a;ll they could do to get needful food. At length they 
came to a magnificent river. European eyes had seen no 



42 Young Folks History of America. 

such river till now. It was about a mile in breadth, and its 
mass of water swept downward to the sea with a current of 
amazing strength. It was the Mississippi. The Spaniards 
built vessels and ferried themselves to the western bank. 

There they resumed their wanderings. De Soto would not 
yet admit that he had failed. He still hoped that the plun- 
der of a rich city would reward his toils. For many months 
the Spaniards strayed among the swamps and dense forests 
of that dreary region. The natives showed at first some 
disposition to be helpful. But the Spaniards, in their disap- 
pointment, were pitiless and savage. They amused them- 
selves by inflicting pain upon the prisoners. They cut off their 
hands ; they hunted them with bloodhounds ; they burned 
them at the stake. The Indians became dangerous. De 
Soto hoped to awe them by claiming to be one of the gods, 
but the imposture was too palpable. 

" How can a man be God when he cannot get bread to 
eat? " asked a sagacious savage. 

It was now three years since De Soto had landed in 
America. The utter failure of the expedition could no 
longer be concealed, and the men wished to return home. 
Broken in spirit and in frame, De Soto caught a fever and 
died. His soldiers felled a tree and scooped room within 
its trunk for the body of the ill-fated adventurer. They 
could not bury their chief on land, lest the Indians should 
dishonor his remains. 

In the silence of midnight the rude cof^n was sunk in the 
Mississippi, and the discoverer of the great river slept beneath 
its waters. 

The Spaniards promptly resolved now to make their way 
to Cuba. They had tools, and wood was abundant. They 
slew their horses for flesh ; they plundered the Indians for 
bread ; they struck the fetters from their prisoners to rein- 
force their scanty supply of iron. They built ships enough 



1497- ^^h^ Story of Americds Name. 43 

to fioat them down the Mmmippu Three hundred ragged 
and disheartened men were all that remained of the brilliant 
company whose hopes had been so high, whose good fortune 
had been so much envied. 

ITie courage and endurance of the early voyagers excite 
our wonder. Few of them sailed in ships so large as a hun- 
dred tons* burden. The merchant ships of that time were 
very srnalL The royal navies of Europe contained large ves- 
sels, but commerce was too poor to employ any but the 
smallest. The commerce of imperial Rome employed ships 
which even now would be deemed large. St. Paul was 
wrecked in a ship of over five hundred tons* burden. Jo- 
sephus sailed in a ship of nearly one thousand tons. Europe 
contented herself, as yet, with vessels of a very different class. 
A ship of forty or fifty tons was deemed sufi&cient by the 
daring adventurers who sought to reach the Land of Promise 
beyond the great sea. 

!' THE STORY OF AMERICA'S NAME. 

The honor of discovering America is curiously divided. 
Columbus, who first found the West India Islands (and six 
lyears later saw the mainland;, Is always ca//ed the discoverer, 
'and Americus Vespucius, who first saw the continent, was 
lucky enough to leave the land his name. 

This first voyage Vespucius carefully described, noting 
down a great many interesting and a great many whimsical 
I things. When he landed on the coast of Venezuela, in the 
isummer of 1497, the first thing he saw was a queer Httle 
village built over the water, like Venice. " There were about 
forty-four houses, shaped like bells, built upon very large 
piles, having entrances by means of drawbridges." 
I The natives proved suspicious and hostile here, and as the 
iSpaniards stood looking at them, they drew up all their 
(bridges, and appeared to shut themselves into their houses. 



46 



Young Folks History of America, 



Immediately after twenty-two canoe-loads of savages came 
round by sea and advanced on the boats of Vespucius. A 
fight ensued, the natives displaying much art and treachery,^ 
but fleeing finally in dismay at the roar and smoke of tfi^ 
Spanish guns. ^ ^'*V^'^~:"N^^ ' '^ ''"^■^^yV--v y'^^ 




HOME OF THE ALLIGATOR. 



At his next landing-place, farther south, the navigator 
found a gentler tribe, though, like the first, all naked savages. 
They retreated before him and his men, and left their wig- 
wams, which he stopped to inspect. Fires were burning, 
and the Indians had just been cooking young alligators, num- 



i6o7. The Story of Virginia. 67 

hundred and five men. Of these one-half were gentlemen 
of broken fortune ; some were tradesmen ; others were foot- 
men. Only a very few were farmers, or mechanics, or 
persons in any way fitted for the life they sought. 

But, happily for Virginia, there sailed with these founders 
of a new empire a man whom Providence had highly gifted 
with fitness to govern his fellow-men. His name was John 
Smith. No writer of romance would have given his hero 
this name. ]?ut, in spite of his name, the man was truly 
heroic. He was still under thirty, a strong-limbed, deep- 
chested, massively built man. 

From boyhood he had been a soldier, roaming over the 
world in search of adventures, wherever hard blows were 
being exchanged. He was mighty in single combat. Once, 
while opposing armies looked on, he vanquished three Turks, 
and like David, cut off their heads, and bore them to his 
tent. Returning to England when the passion for colonizing 
J was at its height, he felt at once the prevailing impulse. 
He joined the Virginian expedition. Ultimately he became 
its chief. His fitness was so manifest that no reluctance on 
his own part, no jealousies on that of his companions, could 
bar him from the highest place. Men became kings of old 
by the same process which now made Smith a chief. 

The emigrants sailed up the James River. Landing there, 
they proceeded to construct a little town, which they named 
Jamestown, in honor of the king. 'I'his was the first colony 
which struck its roots in American soil. The colonists were 
charmed with the climate and with the luxuriant beauty of 
the wilderness on whose confines they had settled. But as 
yet it was only a wilderness. The forest had to be cleared 
that food might be grown. 

The exiled gentlemen labored manfully, Init under griev- 
ous discouragements, "ihe axes so oft blistered their ten- 
der fingers, that many times every third blow had a loud oath 



68 



Young Folks' History of America. 



to drown the echo." Smith was a man upon whose soul 
there lay a becoming reverence for sacred things. He de- 




CLEARING THE FOREST. 



vised how to have every man's oaths numbered; '*and at 
night, for every oath, to have a can of water poured down his 
sleeve." Under this treatment the evil assuaged. 




JOHN SMITH A CAPTIVE AMONG THE INDIANS. 






1608. Smith a Prisoner. ^i 

The emigrants had landed in early spring. Summer came 
with its burning heat. Supplies of food ran low. " Had we 
been as free from all sins as from gluttony and drunkenness," 
Smith wrote, ''we might have been canonized as saints." 
The colonists sickened and died. Before autumn every sec- 
ond man had died. But the hot Virginian sun, which proved 
so deadly to the settlers, ripened the wheat they had sowed 
in the spring, and freed the survivors from the pressure of 
want. Winter brought them a healthier temperature and 
abundant supplies of wild- fowl and game. 

When the welfare of the colony was in some measure 
secured, Smith set forth with a few companions to explore 
the interior of the country. He and his followers were cap- 
tured by the Indians. The followers were summarily butch- 
ered. Smith's composure did not fail him in the worst 
extremity. He produced his pocket-compass, and interested 
the savages by explaining its properties. He wrote a letter 
in their sight, to their infinite wonder. They spared him, 
and made a show of him in all the settlements. He was 
to them an unfathomable mystery. He was plainly super- 
human. Whether his power would bring to them good 
or evil, they were not able to determine. After much hesita- 
tion they chose the course which prudence seemed to counsel. 
They resolved to extinguish powers so formidable, regarding 
whose use they could obtain no guarantee. So they con- 
demned him to death. 

The chief, by whose order Smith was to be slain, was 
named Powhatan. The manner of execution was to be one 
of the most barbarous. Smith was bound and stretched upon 
the earth, his head resting upon a great stone. The mighty 
club was uplifted to dash out his brains. But Smith was a 
man who won golden opinions of all. The Indian chief had 
a daughter, Pocahontas, a child of ten or twelve years. She 
could not bear to see the pleasing Englishman destroyed. 






J 2 Yotmg Folks History of America, 

As Smith lay waiting the fatal stroke, she caught him in her 
arms and interposed herself between him and the club. Her 
intercession prevailed, and Smith was set free. 

Five years later, " an honest and discreet " young English- 
man, called John Rolfe, loved this young Indian girl. He had 
a sore mental struggle about uniting himself with '' one of 
barbarous breeding and of a cursed race." But love tri- 
umphed. He labored for her conversion, and had the happi- 
ness of seeing her baptized in the little church of Jamestown. 
Then he married her. 

When Smith returned from captivity the colony was on the 
verge of extinction. Only thirty-eight persons were left, and 
they were preparing to depart. With Smith, hope returned 
to the despairing settlers. They resumed their work, confident 
in the resources of their chief. Fresh arrivals from England 
cheered them. The character of these reinforcements had 
not as yet improved. " Vagabond gentlemen " formed still a 
large majority of the settlers, — many of them, we are told, 
"packed off to escape worse destinies at home." The colony, 
thus composed, had already gained a very bad reputation ; 
so bad that some, rather than be sent there, " chose to be 
hanged, and were.'" Over these most undesirable subjects 
Smith ruled with an authority which no man dared or desired 
to question. But he was severely injured by an accidental 
explosion of gunpowder. Surgical aid was not in the colony. 
Smith required to go to England, and once more ruin setded 
down upon Virginia. In six months the five hundred men 
whom Smith had left dwindled to sixty. These were already 
embarked and departing, when they were met by Lord Dela- 
ware, the new governor. Once more the colony was saved. 

Years of quiet growth succeeded. Emigrants — not largely 
now of the dissolute sort— flowed steadily in. Bad people 
bore rule in England during most of the seventeenth century, 
and they sold the good people to be slaves in Virginia. The 



i688. The Story of Virginia. 75 

victims of the brutal Judge- Jeffreys — the Scotch Covenant- 
ers taken at Both well Bridge — were shipped off to this profit- 
able market. In 1688 the population of Virginia had increased 
to fifty thousand. The little capital grew. Other little towns 
established themselves. Deep in the unfathomed wilderness 
rose the huts of adventurous settlers, in secluded nooks, by 
the banks of nameless Virginian streams. A semblance of 
roads connected . the youthful communities. The Indians 
were relentlessly "suppressed. The Virginians bought no land. 
They took what they required, slaying or expelling the for- 
mer occupants. Perhaps there were faults on both sides. 
Once the Indians planned a massacre so cunningly that over 
three hundred Enghshmen perished before the bloody hand of 
the savage^ tould be stayed. 

The early explorers of Virginia found tobacco in extensive 
use among the Indians. It was the chief medicine of the 
savages. Its virtues — otherwise unaccountable — were sup- 
posed to proceed from a spiritual presence whose home was 
in the plant. Tobacco was quickly introduced into Eng- 
land. It rose rapidly into favor. Men who had hereto- 
fore smoked hemp eagerly sought tobacco. King James 
wrote vehemently against it. He issued a proclamation 
against trading in an article which was corrupting to mind 
and body. He taxed it heavily when he could not exclude 
it. The Pope excommunicated all who smoked in churches. 
But, in defiance of law and reason, the demand for tobacco 
continued to increase. 

The Virginians found their most profitable occupation in 
supplying this demand. So eager were they that tobacco was 
grown in the squares and streets of Jamestown. In the 
absence of money, tobacco became the Virginian currency. 
Accounts were kept in tobacco. The salaries of members of 
Assembly, the stipends of clergymen, were paid in tobacco. 
Offences were punished by fines expressed in tobacco. Ab- 



'jG Young- Folks' History of America. 

sence from church cost the delinquent fifty pounds -, refusing 
to have his child baptized, two thousand pounds ; entertaining 
a Quaker, five thousand pounds. When the stock of tobacco 
was unduly large, the currency was debased, and much incon- 
venience resulted. The Virginians corrected this evil in their 
monetary system by compelling every planter to burn a cer- 
tain proportion of his stock. 

Within a few years of the settlement the Virginians had a 
written Constitution, according to which they were ruled. 
They had a parliament chosen by the burghs, and a gov- 
ernor sent them from England. The Episcopal Church was 
established among them, and the colony divided into parishes. 
A college was erected for the use, not only of the English, 
but also of the most promising young Indians. " In this col- 
ony the first white child was born. She was baptized under 
the name of Virginia Dare. 

THE STORY OF LADY POCAHONTAS. 

Pocahontas was baptized under the name of Rebecca. 
After her marriage with John Rolfe she went with her 
husband to England, where, being a chief's daughter, she 
was known as Lady Pocahontas. She was eighteen years old 
at her baptism, was very graceful and beautiful, and had 
learned much refinement from her intercourse with English 
society. 

Her admiration for Captain John Smith seems to have been 
her ruling passion as long as that brave man remained in the 
colony. He treated her with the kindness of a father, he 
delighted in making her little presents that were surprises, and 
his courage made him appear to her as something more than 
human. 

The Indians again and again sought the life of Smith. The 
brother of Powhatan once surrounded him with a body of 




BAPTISM OF VIRGINIA DARE. 



I6I3. 



The Story of Lady Pocahontas. 



79 



hostile Indians. Smith ignored the Indians, and dared Ope- 
chancanough to a single combat. This so frightened and 
disconcerted the Indian that he had not the courage to order 




CAPTAIN SMITH AND THE CHIEF OF PASPAHEGH. 



his arrest. The chief of Paspahegh, a tribe near Jamestown, 
once attempted to surprise and shoot Smith. But the latter 
seized him before he could use his weapons. The chief was 
a very strong man, and he pushed his antagonist towards the 



8o Young Folks History of America. 

river, and, suddenly forcing him over the bank, attempted to 
drown him. But Smith was too nimble for him. He seized 
him by the throat, and, quickly drawing his sword, would 
have killed him had he not begun to beg and cry out for 
mercy. He led him a pri^ner to Jamestown, and made war 
on the tribe and reduced them to submission. 

Pocahontas twice saved the life of Smith at the risk of her 
own, and she is said to have loved him. She never visited 
Jamestown after he went away. They told her that he was 
dead. 

Smith heard of the arrival of Pocahontas in England ; he 
remembered her devotion with gratitude ; he called on her and 
then sent an eloquent petition to the queen, asking that royal 
favor be shown her. 

He said : — 

" Being in Virginia and taken prisoner by Powhatan, I re- 
ceived from this savage great courtesy, and from his son 
Nantaquans, and his sister Pocahontas, the king's most dear 
and well-beloved daughter, being but a child of twelve or thir- 
teen years of age, whose compassionate, pitiful heart of my des- 
perate estate gave me much cause to respect her. I being the 
first Christian this proud king and his grim attendants ever saw, 
and tluis enthralled in their barbarous power, I cannot say I felt 
the least occasion of want that was in the power of those my 
mortal foes to prevent, notwithstanding all their threats. After 
some six weeks' fatting amongst these savage countries, at the 
minute of my execution she hazarded the beating out of her own 
brains to save mine ; and not only that, but so prevailed with 
her fadier, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown 

" Such was the weakness of this poor commonwealth, as, had 
not the savages fed us, we directly had starved. And this relief, 
most gracious Queen, was commonly brought us by this lady, 
Pocahontas ; notwithstanding all these passages when uncon- 
stant fortune turned our peace to war, this tender virgin would 
still not spare to dare to visit us, and by her our jars have been 




MARRIAGE OF JOHN ROLFE AND POCAHONTAS. 



i6i6. The Story of Lady Pocahontas. 83 

oft appeased, and our wants supplied. Were it the policy of 
her father thus to employ her, or the ordinance of God thus to 
make her his instrument, or her extraordinary affection for our 
nation, I know not ; but of this I am sure, when her father, with 
the utmost of his policy and power, sought to surprise me, hav- 
ing but eighteen with me, the dark night could not affright her 
from coming through the irksome woods, and, with watered 
eyes, give me intelligence, with her best advice to escape his 
fury, which had he known he had surely slain her. 

" Jamestown, with her wild train she as freely frequented as 
her father's habitation ; and during the time of two or three years, 
she, next under God, was still the instrument to preserve this 
colony from death, famine, and utter confusion. . . . 

" As yet I never begged any thing of the state, and it is my . 
want of ability and her exceeding desert; your birth, means, and 
authority; her birth, virtue, want, and simplicity, doth make me 
thus bold humbly to beseech your majesty to take this knowl- 
edge of her, though it be from one so un^worthy to be the re- 
porter as myself, her husband's estate not being able to make 
her fit to attend your majesty." 

The English court received Pocahontas with delight. She 
was invited to the great receptions of the nobility, and enjoyed 
the splendors of civilization as much as she had delighted in 
the barbaric pomp of her father's lodges. 

The first meeting of Pocahontas and Smith in England was 
very touching. She started on seeing him, and gazed at him 
in silence. Then she buried her face in her hands and wept. 
She seemed to feel deeply injured. She said : — 

" I showed you great kindness in my own country. You 
promised my father that what was yours should be his. You 
called Powhatan your father when you were in a land of stran- 
gers, and now that I am in a land of strangers you must allow 
me to do the same." 

Smith said that as she was a king's daughter, it would not 
be allowable in court for her to call him " father." 



84 



Yoimg Folks History of America. 



" I must call you father," she said, " and you must call me 
child. I will be your countrywoman for ever. They told me 
you were dead." 

After remaining in England a year, Rolfe determined to 
return to America. Pocahontas did not wish to leave Eng- 
land. A child had been born to her, and in England the 
world looked beautiful, and the future bright and fair. She 
became very sad ; she seemed to feel some evil was approach- 
ing. She died at Gravesend, March, 1617, just as she was 
about to sail. Some of the noblest famihes of Virginia are 
descended from the infant son which she left in her sorrow 
and youth, when life seemed to lie so fair before her. 




"meadows stretched to the eastward." 



THE STORY OF ACADIA. 



Every intelligent reader is familiar with Longfellow's beau- 
tiful story of "Evangeline." Few poems so haunt the imagi- 
nation. Amid the pressure of care, the disappointments of 



i6io. The Story of Acadia. 85 

ambition, and under a sense of the hollowness of society, the 
fancy flits to Acadia \ and whoever has gone into that land 
with the poet is sure to return to it again in dreams. 

" In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, 
Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pre 
Lay in the fruitful valley. Vast meadows stretched to the eastward, 
Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without number. 
Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor incessant, 
Shut out the turbulent tides ; but at stated seasons the flood-gates 
Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the meadows. 
West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and cornfields 
Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain ; and away to the north- 
ward 
Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the mountains 
Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty Atlantic 
Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station descended. 
There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village. 
Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock, 
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the Henries. 
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows ; and gables projecting 
Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway. 
There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the sunset 
Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the chimneys, 
Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles 
Scarlet and blue and green, with distaffs spinning the golden 
Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles within doors 
Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the songs of the 

maidens. 
Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the children 
Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them. 
Reverend walked he among them ; and up rose matrons and maidens, 
Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate welcome. 
Then came the laborers home from the field, and serenely the sun sank 
Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the belfry 
Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the village 
Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending, 
Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment. 
Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers, — 
Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from 



86 Young Folks' History of America. 

Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics. 
Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows ; 
But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners ; 
There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance." 

Acadia — now Nova Scotia — is itself a dream. Port Royal 
is gone ; the maps do not contain it. Grand Pre is still to 
be seen, but it is no more the Norman town of the Golden 
Age. 

Take the map. On the Bay of Fundy you will find the 
town of Annapolis, in Nova Scotia. It is situated near a 
pleasant bay called Annapolis, or Annapolis Harbor. It is 
nearly surrounded with picturesque hills. This harbor was 
visited in 1 604 by De Monts, a French explorer. One of the 
noblemen who accompanied him was Baron de Poutrincourt. 
He saw the harbor and green hills in summer time, and he 
desired to settle there. He obtained from De Monts a grant 
of the region about the enchanting harbor, and he called the 
place Port Royal. De Monts formed a settlement at the 
mouth of St. Croix River, which was not successful. 

Poutrincourt went to France and returned after a time to 
Port Royal with an ideal colony. He caused an immense 
banqueting hall to be erected, which was well supplied with 
deer, moose, bear, and all kinds of wild fowl. He made 
friends of the Indians and entertained the chiefs at sumptu- 
ous feasts. 

The daily noonday meal was usually the scene of much 
vivacity. Champlain, the explorer, who discovered Lake 
Champlain and gave to it its name, was there ; Lescarbot, 
the chronicler and troubadour ; soldiers, artisans, and servants. 
With Poutrincourt, the feudal lord, often sat an Indian chief 
who was more than one hundred years old. One of the diver- 
sions at the table was to toss tidbits of French cookery to 
Indian children, who crawled like dogs about the floor. It is 
told that an aged Indian in dying once seriously inquired if 




DINNER AMUSEMENTS AT PORT ROYAL. 



i6io. The Story of Acadia. 89 

the pies in Paradise would be as good as those at Port Royal. 
At night, by the blazing pine logs, Champlain would relate the 
stories of his wonderful adventures. What stories they must 
have been ! 

Sad news came to the colony after these happy and never- 
to-be-forgotten days. The monopoly granted to De Monts 
was rescinded by the home powers/ and the colony was 
obliged to return to France. 

The Indians loved this French colony, and were greatly 
disappointed at its departure. They bade their benefactors 
farewell with tears and lamentations, and stood on the shore 
as if heart-broken, as the boats sailed away to the ship on the 
lovely bay. Poutrincourt promised them that he would re- 
turn again. 

He kept the promise. He returned in 16 10. The In- 
dians had awaited his coming, and protected the houses of the 
French while he was gone. He found his favorite Port Royal 
as he had left it, and as faithful hearts to welcome him back 
again. 

A new colony was founded, and its efforts were largely 
directed to converting the Indians to Christianity. The aged 
chief we have mentioned was one of the first converts and 
the first to be baptized. Indians came to Port Royal from 
all the country around for baptism. There were bitter con- 
tests of words and plots between the Jesuits and the liberal 
Catholic priests, but with this exception, Acadia was like a 
dream-land again. The ladies of the French court favored the 
mission, and astonishing tidings of great numbers of converts 
were yearly carried to them across the sea. Other colonists 
followed, and the French settlement grew. Peace and content- 
ment prevailed. The Jesuits left the settlement to loving 
and benevolent cur^s, — ' 

" And the children 
Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them." 



90 Yoimg Folks History of America. 

By the fortunes of war this colony was transferred to Eng- 
land ; but its heart was still with France. The Enghsh dis- 
trusted its loyalty and sent an armed force to surprise and 
attack it, and to carry away the once happy people, and scat- 
ter them throughout their American domains. The Acadians 
were crowded into transports, their families were separated, 
their friendships and attachments bhghted, and they were 
exiled among strangers never to see each other again. The 
name of Acadia was blotted out. The story of " Evange- 
line " is almost the only memorial of this most romantic and 
ideal settlement that remains. 

Acadia has one lesson in history that we ought not to for- 
get. Love wins love, even from a savage's heart. The French 
from the first were kind and generous to the Indians ; not 
only just, as the Puritans of New England tried to be, bui 
magnanimous and noble. Among the best citizens of the 
American Acadia were these Indians, faithful and grateful to 
those who were ever true to them. 



NEW ENGLAND. 

A little more than two centuries ago New England was one 
vast forest. Here and there a little space was cleared, a little 
corn was raised, a few Indian families made their temporary 
abode. The savage occupants of the land spent their profit- 
less lives to no better purpose than in hunting and fighting. 
The rivers which now give life to so much cheerful industry 
flowed uselessly to the sea. Providence had prepared a home 
which a great people might fitly inhabit. Let us see whence 
and how the men were brought who were the destined pos- 
sessors of its opulence. 

The Reformation had taught that every man is entitled to 
read his Bible for himself, and guide his life by the light he 
obtains from it. But the lesson was too high to be soon 



i6o2. 



James I. 



93 



learned. Protestant princes no more than Popish could per- 
mit their subjects to think for themselves. James I. had just 
ascended the English throne. His was the head of a fool 
and the heart of a tyrant. He would allow no man to separ- 
ate himself from the 
Established Church. 
He would " harry 
out of the land " all 
who attempted such 
a thing. And he 
was as good as his 
word. Men would 
separate from the 
church, and the king 
stretched out his 
pitiless hand to 
crush them. 

On the northern 
borders of Notting- 
hamshire stands the 
little town of Scroo- 
by. Here there were 
some grave and well-reputed persons, to whom the ceremonies 
of the Estabhshed Church were an offence. They met in 
secret at the house of one of their number, a gentleman 
named Brewster. They were ministered to in all scriptural 
simplicity by the pastor of their choice, — Mr. Robinson, a 
wise and good man. But their secret meetings were betrayed 
to the authorities, and their lives were made bitter by the 
persecutions that fell upon them. They resolved to leave 
their own land and seek among strangers that freedom which 
was denied them at home. 

They embarked with all their goods for Holland. But 
when the ship was about to sail, soldiers came upon them, 




JAMES I. 



I 



94 Young Folks History of America. 

plundered them, and drove them on shore. They were 
marched to the public square of Boston, and there the Fa- 
thers of New England endured such indignities as an unbe- 
lieving rabble could inflict. After some weeks in prison they 
were suffered to return home. 

Next spring they tried again to escape. This time a good 
many were on board, and the others were waiting for the 
return of the boat which would carry them to the ship. Sud- 
denly dragoons were seen spurring across the sands. The 
shipmaster pulled up his anchor and pushed out to sea with 
those of his passengers whom he had. The rest were con- 
ducted to prison. After a time they were set at liberty. In 
little groups they made their way to Holland. Mr. Robinson 
and his congregation were reunited, and the first stage of the 
weary pilgrimage from the Old England to the New was at 
length accomplished. 

Eleven quiet and not unprosperous years were spent in 
Holland. The Pilgrims worked with patient industry at their 
various handicrafts. They quickly gained the reputation of 
doing honestly and effectively whatever they professed to do, 
and thus they found abundant employment. Mr. Brewster 
established a printing-press, and printed books about liberty, 
which, as he had the satisfaction of knowing, greatly enraged 
the foolish King James. The little colony received additions 
from time to time, as oppression in England became more 
intolerable. 

The instinct of separation was strong within the Pilgrim 
heart. They could not bear the thought that their little 
colony was to mingle with the Dutchmen and lose its inde- 
pendent existence. But already their sons and daughters 
were forming alliances which threatened this result. The 
fathers considered long and anxiously how the danger was to 
be averted. They determined again to go on pilgrimage. 
They would seek a home beyond the Atlantic, where they 




THE MAYFLOWER AT SEA. 



l620. 



Pilgrims at Delfthaven. 



97 



could dwell apart, and found a State in which they should be 
free to think. 

On a sunny morning in July the Pilgrims kneel upon the 
seashore at Delfthaven, while the pastor prays for the success 
of their journey. Out upon the gleaming sea a little ship lies 
waiting. Money has not been found to transplant the whole 
colony, and only a hundred have been sent. The remainder 
will follow when they 
can. These hundred 
depart amid tears and 
prayers and fond fare- 
wells. Mr. Robinson 
dismissed them with 
counsels which breathed 
a pure and high-toned 
wisdom. 

Sixty-eight years later, 
another famous depart- 
ure from the coast of 
Holland took place. It 
was that of William, 
Prince of Orange, com- 
ing to deliver England from tyranny, and give a new course 
to English history. A powerful fleet and army sailed with 
the Prince. The chief men of the country accompanied 
him to his ships. Public prayers for his safety were offered 
up in all the churches. Insignificant beside this seems at 
first sight the unregarded departure of a hundred working 
men and women. It was in truth, however, not less but even 
more memorable. For these poor people went forth to 
found a great empire, destined to leave as deep and as en- 
during a mark upon the world's history as Rome or even as 
England has done. 

The Mayflower, in which the Pilgrims made their, voyage, 

7 




WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE. 



I 



98 Young Folks History of America. 

was a ship of one hundred and sixty tons. The weather 
proved stormy and cold ; the voyage unexpectedly long. It 
was early in September when they sailed. It was not till the 
nth November that the Mayflower dropped her anchor in 
the waters of Cape Cod Bay. 

It was a bleak-looking and discouraging coast which lay 
before them. Nothing met the eye but low sand-hills, cov- 
ered with ill-grown wood down to the margin of the sea. 
The Pilgrims had now to choose a place for their settlement. 
About this they hesitated so long that the captain threatened 
to put them all on shore and leave them. Little expeditions 
were sent to explore. At first no suitable locality could be 
found. The men had great hardships to endure. The cold 
was so excessive that the spray froze upon their clothes, and 
they resembled men cased in armor. At length a spot was 
fixed upon. The soil appeared to be good, and abounded 
in "delicate springs" of water. On the 2 2d December the 
Pilgrims landed, — stepping ashore upon a huge bowlder of 
granite, which is still reverently preserved by their descend- 
ants. Here they resolved to found their settlement, which 
they agreed to call New Plymouth. 

The winter was severe, and the infant colony was brought 
very near to extinction. They had been badly fed on board 
the Mayflower, and for some time after going on shore there 
was very imperfect shelter from the weather. Sickness fell 
heavily on the worn-out Pilgrims. Every second day a grave 
had to be dug in the frozen ground. By the time spring 
came there were only fifty survivors, and these sadly enfee- 
bled and dispirited. 

But all through this dismal winter the Pilgrims labored at 
their heavy task. The care of the sick, the burying of the 
dead, sadly hindered their work. But the building of their 
little town went on. They found that nineteen houses would 
contain their diminished numbers. These they built. Then 



i62i. The Story of Massasoit. 99 

they surrounded them with a palisade. Upon an eminence 
beside their town they erected a structure which served a 
double purpose. Above, it was a fort, on which they mounted 
six cannon ; below, it was their church. Hitherto the In- 
dians had been a cause of anxiety, but had done them no 
harm ; now they felt safe. 

The Pilgrims had been careful to provide for themselves a 
government. They had drawn up and signed, in the cabin 
of the Mayflower, a document forming themselves into a 
body politic, and promising obedience to all laws framed for 
the general good. Under this constitution they appointed 
John Carver to be their Governor. They dutifully acknowl- 
edged King James, but they left no very large place for his 
authority. They were essentially a self-governing people. 
They knew what despotism was, and they were very sure 
that democracy could by no possibility be so bad. 

The welcome spring came at length, and " the birds sang 
in the woods most pleasantly." The health of the colony 
began somewhat to improve. 

Early in the spring a very pleasing episode happened in 
the history of the colony. Let us tell you 

THE STORY OF MASSASOIT. 

The great benefactor of the Pilgrims at Plymouth was an 
Indian chief. For more than forty years, when the colony 
was weak and defenceless, encountering sickness, famine, and 
peril on every hand, he was its defender and protector. His 
influence saved it from destruction by the Narragansetts. If 
any hero deserves a noble monument in New England, it is 
Massasoit. 

This great and good chief dwelt at Sowamset, now Warren, 
Rhode Island. Massasoit's spring is still to be seen near one 
of the wharves of that town. Another of his favorite residen- 



lOO Young Folks' History of America. 

ces was Mount Hope, a lovely hill overlooking the Narragan- 
sett Bay, where was the principal burying-ground of his race. 

Morton in his " Memorial " describes Massasoit as a portly 
man, grave of countenance and spare, of speech. He loved 
peace and friendship, and had a great veneration for the wis- 
dom of the Pilgrims. 

His tribe and most of the New England tribes had been 
depleted by a great plague which had prevailed in New 
England a few years before the landing of the Pilgrims. We 
are told that the " savages died in heaps," that their bodies 
turned yellow after death, and that their unburied bones were 
often seen in depopulated villages by the first settlers in their 
explorations. But for this destruction of once powerful tribes 
the colonists must have been early overpowered in the Indian 
wars. 

On Thursday, March 22, 162 1, one hundred and one days 
after the landing of the Pilgrims, Massasoit, accompanied by 
his brother and sixty warriors, came to Plymouth to make a 
league of friendship with the colony. He had sent word of 
his coming, but on that day he suddenly made his appear- 
ance on Watson's Hill, which overlooked the settlement, and 
drew up his braves in a most imposing array. The latter 
were painted and fantastically dressed. The Pilgrims desired 
to receive the chief with due honor, but the distressing winter 
had rendered half their number unfit for such service. But 
Edward Winslow approached Massasoit with a present, and 
remained with the warriors as a hostage, while the good chief 
and a body of unarmed men went down the hill to the settle- 
ment. Captain Miles Standish, who had mustered a military 
company of six musketeers, met him. 

It must have been much like an exploit of Baron Steuben, 
— that March day's reception on the wild Plymouth hill- 
side. The Captain gave his orders in deep tones, and the 
men faced, and wheeled, and saluted their guest. A drum 



1623. Sickness of Massasoit. 1 03 

was beaten, and a trumpet sounded ; then came Governor 
Carver to the sachem and kissed his hand, and the two sat 
down on a rug and made a treaty of peace which protected 
the colony for nearly a half century. 

Edward Winslow returned the visit of Massasoit during the 
following summer. In March, 1623, news came to Plymouth 
that the chief was dangerously sick. Mr. Winslow was sent 
by the colonists to visit him. He was accompanied by Mr. 
Hamden, and by Hobomok, an Indian interpreter. 

Hobomok greatly loved his chief. On the way to Sowam- 
set in Pokonoket, the residence of Massasoit, he would break 
out into exclamations of grief : — 

" My loving sachem ! O my loving sachem ! many have I 
known, but never any like thee. Whilst I live I shall never 
see his like among Indians ! " 

Mr. Winslow in his journal has left a most interesting ac- 
count of this visit to Massasoit. He says : — 

" When we came to the house we found it so full of men 
that we could scarcely get in, though they used their best 
endeavors to make way for us. We found the Indians in the 
midst of their charms for him, making such a noise as greatly 
affected those of us who were well, and therefore was* not 
likely to benefit him who was sick. About him were six or 
eight women, who chafed his limbs to keep heat in him. 

" When they had made an end of their charming, one told 
him that his friends, the English, were come to see him. 
Having understanding left, though his sight was wholly gone, 
he asked who was come. They told him, Winslow. 

" He desired to speak with me. When I came to him, he 
put forth his hand and I took it. He then inquired : — 

" ^ Keen Winslow ? ' which is to say, ' Art thou Winslow ? ' 

"I answered, ' Ahhe ; ' that is, 'Yes.' 

" Then he said, ' Matta neen woiickanet namen, Winslow ; ' 
that is to say, ' O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.' 



104 Young Folks History of America. 

" I then called Hobomok, and desired him to tell Massa- 
soit that the Governor, hearing of his sickness, was sorry ; 
and though, by reason of much business, he could not come 
himself, yet he sent me with such things as he thought most 
likely to do him good in his extremity, and that if he would 
like to partake of it I would give it to him. He desired that 
I would. I then took some conserve on the point of my 
knife, and gave it to him, but could scarce get it through his 
teeth. When it had dissolved in his mouth, he swallowed 
the juice of it. When those who were about him saw this 
they rejoiced greatly, saying that he had not swallowed any 
thing for two days before. His mouth was exceedingly 
furred, and his tongue much swollen. I washed his mouth 
and scraped his tongue, after which I gave him more of the 
conserve, which he swallowed with more readiness. He then 
desired to drink. I dissolved some of the conserve in water, 
and gave it to him. 

" Within half an hour there was a visible change in him. 
Presently his sight began to come. I gave him more, and 
told him of an accident we had met with in breaking a bottle 
of drink the Governor had sent him, assuring him that if he 
would send any of his men to Patuxet (Plymouth), I would 
send for more. I also told him that I would send for chick- 
ens to make him some broth, and for other things which I 
knew were good for him, and that I would stay till the mes- 
senger returned, if he desired. This he received very kindly, 
and appointed some who were ready to go by two o'clock 
in the morning, against which time I made ready a letter. 

" He requested that the day following I would take my gun 
and kill him some fowl, and make him some pottage, such as 
he had eaten at Plymouth, which I promised to do. His 
appetite returning before morning, he desired me to make 
him some broth without fowl before I went out to hunt. I was 
now quite at a loss what to do. I, however, caused a woman 



1623. 



The Story of Massasoit. 



105 



to pound some corn, put it into some water, and place it over 
the fire. When the day broke, we went out to seek herbs ; but 
it being early in the season, we could find none except straw- 
berry leaves. I gathered a handful of them, with some sassa- 
fras root, and put them into the porridge. It being boiled, I 
strained it through my handkerchief, and gave him at least a 
pint, which he liked very well. After this his sight mended 
more and more, and he took some 
rest. We now felt constrained to 
thank God for giving his blessing 
to such raw and ignorant means. 
It now appeared evident that he 
would recover, and all of them 
acknowledged us as the instru- 
ments of his preservation. 

" That morning he caused me 
to spend in going from one to 
another of those who were sick 
in town, requesting me to wash 
their mouths also, and to give to 
each of them some of the same 
that I gave him. This pains I 
willingly took. 

"The messengers who had 
been sent to Plymouth had by 

this time returned ; but Massasoit, finding himself so much 
better, would not have the chickens killed, but kept them that 
they might produce more. Many, whilst we were there, came 
to see him ; some of them, according to their account, came 
not less than a hundred miles. Upon his recovery, he said : — 

" ' Now I see that the English are my friends, and love me, 
and whilst I live I will never forget this kindness which 
they have shown me.' -^ 

"As we were about to come away he called Hobomok 




MANY VISITORS. 



ic6 



Yoitng Folks History of America. 



to him and revealed to him a plot the Massachusetts had 
formed to destroy the English. He told him that several 
other tribes were confederate with them ; that he, in his 
sickness, had been earnestly solicited to join them, but had 
refused, and that he had not suffered any of his people to 
unite with them." 

Massasoit died, as is supposed, in the autumn of 1661, 
forty-one years after the landing of the Pilgrims. In 1662, 
his two sons, Wamsetta and Metacom, came to Plymouth to 
renew the treaty of peace he had made, and desired that Eng- 
lish names should be given them. The court named them 
after the two heroes of Macedon, Alexander and Philip. 

The years which followed the coming of the Pilgrims were 
years through which good men in England found it bitter 

to live. Charles I. 
was upon the 
throne. Laud was 
Archbishop of 
Canterbury. Big- 
otry as blind and 
almost as cruel as 
England had ever 
seen thus sat in 
her high places. A 
change was near. 
John Hampden 
was farming his 
lands in Bucking- 
hamshire. A great- 
er than he — his 
cousin, Oliver 
Cromwell — was leading his quiet rural life at Huntingdon, 
not without many anxious and indignant thoughts about the 
evils of his time. John Milton was peacefully writing his 




OLIVER CROMWELL. 



1630. 



Persecution of the Puritans. 



109 



minor poems, and filling his mind with the learning of the 
ancients. The men had come, and the hour was at hand. 
But as yet King 
Charles and Arch- 
bishop Laud gov- 
erned in their own 
way. They fined 
and imprisoned 
every man who 
ventured to think 
otherwise than 
they wished him 
to think : they slit 
his nose, they cut 
off his ears, they 
gave him weary 
hours in the pil- 
lory. They or- 
dered that men 

should not leave the kingdom without the king's permission. 
Eight ships lay in the Thames, with their passengers on 
board, when that order was given forth. The soldiers cleared 
the ships, and the poor emigrants were driven back, in pov- 
erty and despair, to endure the misery from which they were 
so eager to escape. 

New England was the refuge to which the wearied victims 
of this senseless tyranny looked. The Pilgrims wrote to their 
friends at home, and every letter was regarded with the 
interest due to a " sacred script." They had hardships to 
tell of at first ; then they had prosperity and comfort ; always 
they had liberty. New England seemed a paradise to men 
who were denied permission to worship God according to 
the manner which they deemed right. Every summer a few 
ships were freighted for the settlements. Many of the silenced 




CHARLES I. 



no Young Folks'' History of America. 

ministers came. Many of their congregations came, glad to 
be free, at whatever sacrifice, from the tyranny which dis- 
graced their native land. 

The region around New Plymouth became too narrow for 
the population. From time to time a little party would go 
forth, with a minister at its head. With wives and children 
and baggage they crept slowly through the swampy forest. 
By a week or two of tedious journeying they reached some 
point which pleased their fancy, or to which they judged that 
Providence had sent them. There they built their little town, 
with its wooden huts, its palisade, its fort, on which one or 
two guns were ultimately mounted. Thus were founded 
many of the cities of New England. 

For some years the difficulties which the colonists encoun- 
tered were almost overwhelming. There seemed at times 
even to be danger that death by starvation would end the 
whole enterprise. At one time the amount of food was lim- 
ited to five kernels of corn to each person for one day. But 
they were a stout-hearted, patient, industrious people, and 
labor gradually brought comfort. The virgin soil began to 
yield them abundant harvests. They fished with such suc- 
cess that they manured their fields with the harvest of the 
sea. They spun and they wove. They felled the timber 
of their boundless forests. They built ships, and sent away 
to foreign countries the timber, the fish, the furs which were 
not required at home. Ere many years a ship built in Mas- 
sachusetts sailed for London, followed by " many prayers of 
the churches." Their infant commerce was not without its 
troubles. They had little or no coin. Indian corn was made 
a legal tender. Bullets were legalized in room of the far- 
things which, with their other coins, had vanished to pay for 
foreign goods. But no difficulty could long resist their steady, 
undismayed labor. 

They were a noble people who had thus begun to strike 




DEALING OUT THE FIVE KERNELS OF CORN. 



i635- Harvard College Founded. 113 

their roots in the great forests of New England. Their pecu- 
liarities may indeed amuse us. The Old Testament was their 
statute-book, and they deemed that the institutions of Moses 
were the best model for those of New England. They made 
attendance on public worship compulsory. They christened 
their children by Old Testament names. They regulated 
female attire by law. They considered long hair unscriptural, 
and preached against veils and wigs. 

The least wise among us can smile at the mistakes into 
which the Puritan Fathers of New England fell ; but the 
most wise of all ages will most profoundly reverence the 
purity, the earnestness, the marvellous enlightenment of these 
men. From their incessant study of the Bible they drew a 
love of human liberty unsurpassed in depth and fervor. Com- 
ing from under despotic rule, they established at once a gov- 
ernment absolutely free. 

The Pilgrims bore with them across the sea a deep persua- 
sion that their infant state could not thrive without education. 
Three years after the landing, it was reported of them among 
the friends they left in London, that " their children were not 
catechised, nor taught to read." The colonists felt keenly 
this reproach. They utterly denied its justice. They owned, 
indeed, that they had not yet attained to a school, much as 
they desired it. But all parents did their best, each in the 
education of his own children. In a very few years schools 
began to appear. Such endowment as could be afforded was 
freely given. Some tolerably qualified brother was fixed upon, 
and "entreated to. become schoolmaster." And thus gradu- 
ually the foundations were laid of the noble school system of 
New England. Soon a law was passed that every town con- 
taining fifty householders must have a common school ; every 
town of a hundred householders must have a grammar school. 
Harvard College was established within fifteen years of the 
landing. 



1 14 Young Folks History of America. 

The founders of New England were men who had known 
at home the value of letters. Brewster carried with him a 
library of two hundred and seventy-five volumes, and his was 
not the largest collection in the colony. The love of knowl- 
edge was deep and universal. New England has never 
swerved from her early loyalty to the cause of education. 

Twenty-three years after the landing of the Pilgrims the 
population of New England had grown to twenty-four thou- 
sand. Forty-nine little wooden towns, with their wooden 
churches, wooden forts, and wooden ramparts, were dotted 
here and there over the land. There were four separate colo- 
nies, which hitherto had maintained separate governments. 
They were Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
Haven. There appeared at first a disposition in the Pilgrim 
mind to scatter widely, and remain apart in small self-govern- 
ing communities. For some years every little band which 
pushed deeper into the wilderness settled itself into an inde- 
pendent State, having no political relations with its neighbors. 
But this isolation could not continue. The wilderness had 
other inhabitants, whose presence was a standing menace. 
Within " striking distance " there were Indians enough to 
trample out the solitary little English communities. On their 
frontiers were Frenchmen and Dutchmen, — natural enemies, 
as all men in that time were to each other. For mutual 
defence and encouragement, the four colonies joined them- 
selves into the United Colonies of New England. This was 
the first confederation in a land where confederations of un- 
precedented magnitude were hereafter to be established. 



CHAPTER IV. 

KING PHILIP'S WAR. 

Early in the history of New England, efforts were made to 
win the Indians to the Christian faith. The Governor of 
Massachusetts appointed ministers to carry the gospel to the 
savages. Mr. John Eliot, the apostle of the Indians, was a 
minister at Roxbury. Moved by the pitiful condition of the 
natives, he acquired the language of some of the tribes in his 
neighborhood. He went and preached to them in their own 
tongue. He used to make a missionary tour every fort- 
night, and he visited all the Indians in the Massachusetts and 
Plymouth Colonies. His zeal led him into great dangers. 
" I have not been dry night or day," he once wrote, "from 
the third day of the week unto the sixth ; but so travel, and 
at night pull off my boots, wring my stockings, and so con- 
tinue." He printed books for the Indians. Many of them 
listened to his sermons in tears. Many professed faith in 
Christ, and were gathered into congregations. He gave them 
a simple code of laws. It was even attempted to establish a 
college for training native teachers. But this had to be aban- 
doned. The slothfulness of the Indian youth, and their de- 
vouring passion for strong liquors, unfitted most of them for 
the ministry. No persuasion could induce them to labor. 
They could be taught to rest on the Sabbath ; they could not 
be taught to work on the other six days. These were grave 
hinderances ; but, in spite of them, Christianity made consid- 
erable progress among them. The hold which it then gained 
was never altogether lost. And it was observed that in all the 



ii8 Young Folks History of America, 

misunderstandings which arose between the English and the 
natives, the converts steadfastly adhered to their new friends. 
A few of the Indians became preachers ; among the most 
noted at a later period was Samuel Occum, who visited Eng- 
land, composed poetry, and was called the Indian White- 
field. 

Several hymns composed by Indians were used in the 
churches. The best known is that beginning, — 

" When shall we three meet again ? " 

It was composed by three Indians at the planting of a memo- 
rial pine on leaving Dartmouth College, where they had been 
receiving a Christian education. The stanzas which follow 
are particularly fine : — 

" Though in distant lands we sigh, 
Parched beneath a burning sky, 
Though the deep between us rolls, 
Friendship shall unite our souls ; 
And in fancy's wide domain. 
There we three shall meet again. 

" When the dreams of life are fled. 
When its wasted lamps are dead, 
When in cold oblivion's shade 
Beauty, health, and strength are laid, — 
Where immortal spirits reign. 
There we three shall meet again." 

These Indians, it is said, afterwards met in the same place 
and composed another hymn, which is as beautiful and touch- 
ing. It begins : — 

** Parted many a toil-spent year. 
Pledged in youth to memory dear. 
Still to friendship's magnet true, 
We our social joys renew ; 
Bound by love's unsevered chain, 
Here on earth we meet again." 



1675. ir/;^^ Philip's War. 119 

But we must leave this pleasant glance at the work of 
Eliot and his successors, and take up the most painful events 
in the colonial history of New England. 

The story of King Philip, and of the short, but bitter and 
heroic war that he waged against the colonists, is very 
romantic and affecting. 

King Philip himself was a hero, to whom even his enemies 
could not refuse their respect and admiration. He was the 
younger son of that noble old chieftain, Massasoit, who had 
welcomed the Pilgrims to the soil of the New World, and had 
lived and died their faithful and powerful friend. Massasoit 
had two sons, and they were named by Governor Winslow, 
as we have already told you, Alexander and Philip. Alexan- 
der succeeded Massasoit, but died suddenly, on his way 
home from a visit to the colony of Plymouth, and the rank 
and authority of Massasoit passed from Alexander to Philip. 

Philip was a noble-hearted Indian, full of patriotism, cour- 
age, and good sense. He was a statesman as well as a 
warrior, and governed his tribe, the Wampanoags, with rare 
judgment. 

At first he was friendly to the Puritans, as his father had 
been before him. He often exchanged presents with them, 
and sent envoys to them, and was their ally in their troubles 
with other tribes. As he grew older, however, he began to 
perceive the dangers which menaced his people. Year by 
year the whites encroached more and more upon the Indian 
hunting-grounds and forests. The Indians, he saw, were 
constantly receding before the new-comers ; they were being 
crowded into the narrow peninsulas and remote corners of 
New England, and the villages of the whites were starting up 
everywhere, on the spots where once the red-skins dwelt in 
peace. 

Still, Philip faithfully observed the treaties which old Mas- 
sasoit had made with the Plymouth and other colonies, and 



I20 Yotmg Folks' History of America. 

which he himself had accepted ; he even received insults 
from the whites without resenting them ; and contented him- 
self with holding long and grave councils with his warriors, at 
his beautiful and picturesque seat on Mount Hope, in Rhode 
Island. 

At last, however, an event occurred which exhausted 
Philip's patience, and kmdled the flame of hatred and ven- 
geance in the breasts of his Indian subjects. 

It happened that one of Philip's tribe, converted by the 
pious and devoted missionary, Eliot, had studied at Cam- 
bridge, and was then employed as a teacher. In conse- 
quence of some misconduct, however, he fled, and sought 
protection from Philip. After a while he returned again to 
the colony, and accused Philip of treachery towards it. It 
was not long before some of the Wampanoags waylaid and 
killed him. Three of the Indians were taken by the Puritans, 
charged with the murder, hastily tried, and hung. 

Philip and his tribe could not bear this. At first the chief 
hesitated. But his scruples were soon overcome by the 
fierce young warriors, and so, of a sudden, the war burst 
forth. Several whites were killed near Swanzey; and it is 
said that Philip wept when he heard that the first blood had 
been shed. The signal was only needed to arouse most of 
the tribes throughout New England to rise against the white 
intruders. Some Indians remained on the side of the col- 
onies, and Philip saw that the war would be a desperate one, 
and that the chances were greatly against him. 

The English had guns and forts and sure supplies of 
food ; Philip and his Indians were badly armed with old 
muskets and bows, and they must trust to luck for provisions, 
while they had no houses to shelter them. The war spread 
rapidly through New England. The two colonies of Ply- 
mouth and Massachusetts Bay were prompt in meeting the 
defiance of the red-skins. Within a week after the first 



i67S- 



King Philip's War, 



123 



bloodshed, the white troops had driven Philip and his war- 
riors from Mount Hope. Not long after, Philip was a fugi- 
tive, and sped from tribe to tribe, rousing them to vengeance. 
It seemed as if the war was over ; it had really but just 
begun. Now occurred many terrible and never-to-be-forgot- 
ten scenes. The In- 
dians, avoiding the 
white troops, dodg- 
ing them, and never 
meeting them face to 
face in the open field, 
carried on the contest 
in their savage way 
of massacring the 
helpless, and burning 
villages. Many a fair 
and quiet settlement 
was made desolate. 
The new houses of 

the settlers were suddenly laid waste. Women and children 
were ruthlessly murdered, and burned in the houses. Whole 
villages disappeared by fire. No one could feel safe; fire 
and death menaced the colonists in the fields, in their beds, 
in their churches, at the home porch. Out of the one 
hundred towns which, at that time, the New England col- 
onies contained, twelve were entirely destroyed, and more 
than forty were more or less injured. 

The Indians suffered, perhaps, not less terribly than the 
whites. The great tribe of the Narragansetts joined in the 
war, and it was their chief, Canonchet, who said, — 

"We will fight to the last man before we will become ser- 
vants to the English ! " 

The fort of this tribe, which, built of palisades, stood where 
the town of South Kingston, Rhode Island, now stands, was 




THE ALARM. 



124 Young Folks' History of America. 

the hiding-place and rendezvous of many of the Indians who 
had been defeated. This fort the Plymouth colonists resolved 
to destroy. 

In December, 1675, when the snow lay deep on the dreary 
forest roads, Josiah Winslow set out for Fort Narragansett, at 
the head of a thousand resolute and well-armed men. It was 
a long march to this rude fortification ] but on reaching it 




DEATH IN THE FIELD. 



they soon destroyed it. The fort and its cabins were set 
on fire ; the winter stores of the Indians, their food and cloth- 
ing, worse still, their old men, women, and children, were 
consumed in the flames. 

The chief Canonchet was soon after taken prisoner. 
Offered his life if he would submit and agree to make peac^, 
he proudly refused ; and then, being condemned to death, he 
saidj — 

" I like it well ; I shall die before I speak any thing unwor- 
thy of myself." 

There were still terrible ravages and sufferings among the 
colonies; but by the end of 1675 ^^^ force of the Indians 




DEATH OF KING PHILIP. 



1 6; 7- Death of Philip. 127 

was broken, and their hope of ridding the soil of the white 
intruders was gone. Philip, wandering from tribe to tribe, 
saw with grief that his efforts had been in vain. Many tribes 
deserted his cause, and hastened to make peace with the 
colonies. Most of his own brave warriors had fallen by the 
bullet or by disease. Troops of Indians fled for safety into 
Canada ; Philip appealed in vain to the powerful Mohawks 
to come to his aid. 

The heroic chief at last yielded to despair. He became a 
fugitive, flying and hiding from the pursuit of his enemies. 
He lay in swamps j he crouched in caves and forests ; and 
at last crept with difficulty back towards Mount Hope, his 
beloved old home, the scene of his glory, and that of his 
fathers. On his way, his wife and young son, idols of his 
heart, were taken prisoners, and in his anguish he exclaimed, 
" My heart breaks. Now I am ready to die." 

He was pursued by the brave and gallant Captain Church, 
who had now completely broken the power of the Indians in 
Massachusetts ; and as Philip was on the eve pf being cap- 
tured at last, a traitor Indian shot him in a swamp where he 
lay concealed. Church, in accordance with the custom at 
that time, ordered the head of the dead chieftain to be 
severed from the body and carried to Plymouth, where it was 
set up on a pole, and remained in public view for several 
years. The body was quartered and hung upon trees. Thus 
did our less enlightened ancestors retaliate upon Philip for 
kindling the war. 

Of the great tribe of the Narragansetts, scarcely one hundred 
men survived the war. 

The young son of Philip, the last remaining sachem of the 
once happy and powerful tribe of the Wampanoags, and the 
last of the family of Massasoit, was sold into slavery in Ber- 
muda. 

One romantic incident of this famous struggle of the In- 



128 



YotiJig Folks' History of America. 



dians, on the one hand, for their ancient domain, and of the 
colonies, on the other, for the existence of white settlements 
in New England, is worth relating. 

Equal in bravery and heroism to Philip was Weetamo, the 
queen of Pocasset. She was a proud and active woman, and 
ruled resolutely over one of the principal tribes. The seat of 
her domain was just across Narragansett Bay, opposite the 
promontory occupied by the Wampanoags. She was friendly 
to the Puritans. Shortly before the war she had wedded Alex- 
ander, Philip's elder 
^^^.^^^^ _^ brother; but as we 

-7~ " - have seen, Alexander 

suddenly died on his 
return from a visit to 
Plymouth. 

When the war 
broke out, Weetamo 
resolved to join the 
whites against her 
own nation. But 
Philip sought a coun- 
cil with her, and elo- 
quently urged her to 
reverse her decision. 
He told her that Al- 
exander had been foully dealt with ; that he had been 
poisoned by the English. He persuaded her of this, and she 
then resolved to lead her tribe into the contest as Philip's 
ally. 

Weetamo had many adventures, accompanied her warriors, 
and inspired them with her presence. But the fate of war 
went against her, as against the rest, and she, like Philip, was 
forced to fly. 

At last she was driven to the banks of the bay. There 




WEETAMO ON A RAFT. 




l^iiiLii' s njiAO I'.KOUGHT TO PLYMOUTH. 



1 677- Death of Weetamo. 131 

were no canoes ; if she remained where she was she would 
surely be taken. She was resolved, however, to reach Po- 
casset, and jumping upon a hastily constructed raft, she 
attempted to cross the bay. But on the way over she was 
drowned. Her body was recovered by the Enghsh ; the head 
was cut off and exposed to view on the green at Taunton, 
whereupon the friendly Indians who were there set up a 
dismal howl. 

It is rarely that characters more heroic than Philip and 
Weetamo appear amid the contests of even highly civiHzed 
nations ; and although their misfortunes resulted in the preser- 
vation of what was destined to be our great nation, we can 
afford to respect their patriotism, and admire their bravery. 

titE STORY OF THE CAPTURE OF ANNAWON. 

On that memorable August morning that Captain Benjamin 
Church and his party surprised and killed Philip, sachem of 
the Wampanoags, at the foot of Mount Hope in Rhode Island, 
a voice was heard in the woods calling out lustily : — 

" Gootash ! Goo fash / " 

"Who is that? " asked Captain Church, of his Indian in- 
terpreter. 

" That is old Annawon, Philip's great captain. He is call- 
ing on his soldiers to fight bravely." 

As soon as Annawon knew that Philip had fallen, and that 
he could render him no further service, he fled. With a sor- 
rowful heart he turned away from the green declivities over- 
looking the beautiful inland seas, the ancestral seat of the old 
Indian sachems, and the general burying-ground of the braves 
of the race. 

He turned to the north, taking with him the poor, wretched, 
despairing remnant of the once powerful tribe of the Wam- 
panoags. 



132 Young Folks History of America. 

Immediately after the death of Philip, Captain Church went 
to Plymouth, hoping to find rest in retirement after his long 
struggle with the Wampanoags and the Narragansetts. He 
had been here but a short time when a post came from Reho- 
both to inform the officers of the colonial government that 
Annawon and his company were ranging about the woods of 
Rehoboth and Swanzey, causing a feeling of insecurity in 
those exposed frontier towns. Captain Church was at once 
despatched to disarm and disperse the party of Annawon. 

After many interesting adventures, he came to a place in 
the vicinity of Rehoboth, where he captured a number of 
Indian fugitives. Among these was a young woman. 

"What company did you come from last? " asked Captain 
Church, of the young captive. 

" From Annawon's." ^ 

" How many were in his company when you left him? " 
"About fifty or sixty." 

" How far is it to the place where you left Annawon? " 
" It is a long distance." 

Captain Church was separated from his company at this 
time. There were with him six men, — one Englishman and 
five friendly Indians. He saw the necessity of immediate ac- 
tion. Annawon would soon learn of the approach of the Eng- 
hsh and elude his pursuers. Captain Church knew that he 
could surprise him that night, if he pressed forward without 
delay, and he resolved to do this with the little force then at 
hand, though the enterprise would be one of unusual peril. 
He unfolded his purpose to the company, and asked them if 
they were willing to go. The Indians were at first startled by 
the proposal of so daring an exploit. They told him that 
they were always ready to obey his commands. " But," they 
added, " Annawon is a great soldier. He was one of the val- 
iant captains under Massasoit, and he has been a principal 
leader during the present war. He has with him now some of 



i677- The Capture of Annawon. 133 

Philip's most resolute men. It would be a pity, after the 
great deeds you have done, for you to throw away your life 
in the end. Nevertheless, if you give the command we will 
follow you." 

The brave party set out on the hazardous expedition. It 
was a dreamy afternoon, late in summer, and they arrived at 
the outskirts of the wood in which the great Indian warrior 
was concealing himself, just as the sun was declining. As the 
shadows deepened and the stars came out over the wide for- 
est, the party cautiously entered the still wood, led by a captive 
Indian, who acted as a guide. They soon reached the place 
where the old warrior and his braves were taking their rest. 
This retreat was protected by high rocks, partly covered with 
low bushes, moss, and fern. Captain Church crept to the 
shelf of on^of these rocks, and, looking over, beheld the great 
Annawon lying by the bright camp-fire. A part of the Indians 
were reposing beside him, and a part were preparing an even- 
ing meal. He discovered the arms of the party stacked at a 
distance, and partly covered to protect them from the dew. 
Captain Church surveyed the encampment for a moment, 
then made his resolution. It was to seize the arms, and to 
make Annawon a prisoner in his own camp. 

Captain Church ordered two Indian captives to go down 
the declivity before him, and to lead the way to the place 
where Annawon was lying. An old squaw below was pound- 
ing corn in a mortar. When she pounded, the adventurers 
descended, and when she rested, they lay still. Captain 
Church presently found himself in the encampment, concealed 
from view by the captives who went before. He first came 
to young Annawon, the son of the great warrior. He stepped 
over him very quietly, but the young man, opening his eyes 
and discovering at a glance the situation, whipped his blanket 
over his head, and, shrinking up in a heap, lay perfectly mo- 
tionless, evidently expecting to be killed. Captain Church now 



134 Young Folks History of America. 

stood at the feet of Annawon. The old warrior started, his 
eyes flashing, and his face wearing an expression of surprise, 
horror, and despair. He uttered the single word ^^ Howoh!^'' 
then remained staring and silent. The great moon was now 
rising, silvering the forest ; the camp-fires were lighting up 
the shadows of the rocks, and in the dim light, amid the 
perfect silence of the encampment, stood the bold EngHsh 
captain, hatchet in hand, beside the prostrate body of his 
terror-struck foe. 

The arms of the Indians having been secured by Captain 
Church's men, the camp was alarmed and Annawon's war- 
riors were informed that their chieftain had been made a cap- 
tive. The Indians, not knowing how small a force had thus 
boldly surprised them, promised to surrender on the condi- 
tion that their lives should be spared. 

"Annawon," said Captain Church at last, "what had you 
for supper to-night? " 

" Taiibut,^'' answered the astonished warrior in a deep 
voice. 

" I have come to sup with you," said Captain Church. 

" Will you have cow-beef or horse-beef? " 

" I will have cow-beef." 

"Women," said the warrior sadly but generously, "pre- 
pare the Enghsha supper." 

It was a bright, moonlight night, and Captain Church kept 
watch by the fading camp-fires. Towards morning, he saw 
Annawon, who supposed that he was asleep, arise and step 
aside from the company. He presently returned, bringing in 
his hand some glittering treasure, and, falling upon his knees, 
said in a half-confident, half-pitiable voice, " Great captain, 
you have killed Philip ; you have conquered his country ; 
you have now captured the last Indian warriors. The war is 
now ended by your means, and these things now belong to 
you." 



1677. 



Death of Annawon. 



135 



He opened the pack, and took out King Philip's girdle of 
wampum, nine inches broad, richly embellished with figures 
of birds, beasts, and flowers. He put this around Captain 
Church's neck, and it hung down to his feet. He then put 
upon the captain's arm the other ornaments that had once 
been used on occasions of state by the fallen roytelet, and 
presented him with a beautiful wampum crown, never more 
to adorn the brow of a Wampanoag chieftain. 

Annawon was executed in Boston, — a deed of cruelty and 
wickedness for which there can be offered no proper apology 
or excuse. 




CHAPTER V. 

THE GROWING EMPIRE. 

NEW YORK. 

During the first forty years of its existence, the great city 
which we call New York was a Dutch settlement, known 
among men as New Amsterdam. That region had been 
discovered for the Dutch East India Company by Henry 
Hudson, who was still in search, as Columbus had been, of 
a shorter route to the East. He explored the river which is 
called after his name. The Dutch have never displayed any 
great aptitude for colonizing ; but they were unsurpassed in 
mercantile discernment, and they set up trading stations with 
much judgment. 

Three or four years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, 
the Dutch West India Company determined to enter into 
trading relations with the Indians along the line of the Hud- 
son River. They sent out a few families, who planted them- 
selves at the southern extremity of Manhattan Island. A 
wooden fort was built, around which clustered a few wooden 
houses, just as in Europe the baron's castle arose and the 
huts of the baron's dependants sheltered beside it. The 
Indians sold valuable furs for scanty payment in blankets, 
beads, muskets, and intoxicating drinks. The prudent 
Dutchmen grew rich, and were becoming numerous. But 
a fierce and prolonged war with the Indians broke out. The 
Dutch, having taken offence at something done by the sav- 
ages, expressed their wrath by the massacre of an entire tribe. 




HENRY HUDSON IN THE NORTH RIVER. 



i645- Dutch Colony at New Amsterdam. 139 

• The Indians of that region made common cause against the 
dangerous strangers. All the Dutch villages were burned 
down. Long Island became a desert. The Dutchmen were 
driven in to the southern tip of the island on which New 
York stands. They ran a palisade across the island in the 
line of what is now Wall Street. To-day, Wall Street is the 
scene of the largest monetary transactions ever known among 
men. The hot fever of speculation rages there incessantly, 
with an intensity unknown elsewhere. Then, it was the line 
within which a disheartened and diminishing band of colo- 
nists strove to maintain themselves against a savage foe. 

The war came to an end. For twenty years the colony 
continued to flourish under the government of a sagacious 
Dutchman called Peter Stuyvesant. Peter had been a 
soldier, and had lost a leg in the wars. He was a bi:ave and 
true-hearted man, but withal despotic. When his subjects 
petitioned for some part in the making of laws, he was 
astonished at their boldness. He took it upon him to in- 
spect the merchants' books. He persecuted the Lutherans 
and "the abominable sect of Quakers." 

It cannot, therefore, be said that his government was fault- 
less. The colony prospered under it, however, and a con- 
tinued emigration from Europe increased its importance. 
But in the twentieth year certain English ships of war sailed 
up the bay, and, without a word of explanation, anchored near 
the setdement. Governor Peter was from home, but they 
sent for him, and he came with speed. He hastened to the 
fort and looked out into the bay. 

There lay the ships, — grim, silent, ominously near. Ap- 
palled by the presence of his unexpected visitors, the Gov- 
ernor sent to ask wherefore they had come. His alarm was 
well founded ; for Charles 11. of England had presented to 
his brother James of York a vast stretch of territory, in- 
cluding the region which the Dutch had chosen for their 



I40 



Young Folks History of America. 



settlement. It was not his to give, but that signified nothing 
either to Charles or to James. These ships had come to 
take possession in the Duke of York's name. 

A good many of the colonists were English, and they were 
well pleased to be under their own government. They 

would not fight. 
The Dutch remem- 
bered the Gover- 
nor's tyrannies, and 
they would not fight. 
Governor Peter was 
prepared to fight 
single-handed. He 
had the twenty guns 
of the fort loaded, 
and was resolute to 
fire upon the ships. 
So at least he pro- 
fessed. But the in- 
habitants begged 
him, in mercy to 
them, to forbear ; and he suffered himself to be led by 
two clergymen away from the loaded guns. It was alleged, 
to his disparagement, afterwards, that he had " allowed 
himself to be persuaded by ministers and other chicken- 
hearted persons." Be that as it may, King Charles's errand 
was done. The little town of fifteen hundred inhabitants, 
with all the neighboring settlements, passed quietly under 
English rule. The future Empire City was named New York, 
in honor of one of the meanest tyrants who ever disgraced 
the English throne. With the settlements on the Hudson 
there fell also into the hands of the English those of New 
Jersey, which the Dutch had conquered from the Swedes. 




CHARLES II. 



i682. The Land of Penn. 143 



THE LAND OF PENN. 

The uneventful but quietly prosperous career of Pennsyl- 
vania began in 1682. The Stuarts were again upon the 
throne of England. They had learned nothing from their 
exile ; and now, with the hour of their final rejection at hand, 
they were as wickedly despotic as ever. 

William Penn was the son of an admiral who had gained 
victories for England, and enjoyed the favor of the royal 
family, as well as of the eminent statesmen of his time. The 
highest honors of the State would in due time have come 
within the young man's reach, and the brightest hopes of his 
future were reasonably entertained by his friends. To the 
dismay of all, Penn became a Quaker. It was an unspeak- 
able humiliation to the well-connected admiral. He turned 
his son out of doors, trusting that hunger would subdue his 
intractable spirit. After a time, however, he relented, and 
the youthful heretic was restored to favor. 

Ere long the admiral died, and Penn succeeded to his pos- 
sessions. It deeply grieved him that his brethren in the faith 
should endure such wrongs as were continually inflicted upon 
them. He could do nothing at home to mitigate the severi- 
ties under which they groaned. Therefore he formed the 
great design of leading them forth to a new world. King 
Charles owed to the admiral a sum of ;^i 6,000, and this 
doubtful investment had descended from the father to the son. 
Penn offered to take payment in land, and the king readily 
bestowed upon him a vast region stretching westward from 
the river Delaware. 

Here Penn proposed to found a State, free and self-gov- 
erning. It was his noble ambition " to show men as free and 
as happy as they can be." He came to America., He pro- 
claimed to the people already settled in his new dominions 



144 Young Folks History of America. 

that they should be governed by laws of their own making. 
" Whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire," he 
told them, " for the security and improvement of their own 
happiness, I shall heartily comply with." He was as good as 
his word. The people appointed representatives, by whom 
a Constitution was framed. Penn confirmed the arrange- 
ments which the people chose to adopt. 



PENN'S arrival in AMERICA. 

Penn dealt justly and kindly with the Indians, and they 
requited him with a reverential love such as they evinced to 
no other Englishman. The neighboring colonies waged 
bloody wars with the Indians who lived around them, now 
inflicting defeats which were almost exterminating, now sus- 
taining hideous massacres. Penn's Indians were his children 




PENN'S treaty with the INDIANS. 



1 682. Penns Colony Founded. i/^^j 

and most loyal subjects. No Quaker blood was ever shed 
by Indian hand in the Pennsylvanian territory. 

Soon after Penn's arrival, he invited the chief men of the 
Indian tribes to a conference. The meeting took place 
beneath a huge elm-tree. The pathless forest has long given 
way to the houses and streets of Philadelphia, but a marble 
monument points out to strangers the scene of this memora- 
ble interview. Penn, with a few companions, unarmed, and 
dressed according to the simple fashion of their sect, met the 
crowd of formidable savages. They met, he assured them, as 
brothers " on the broad pathway of good faith and good will." 
No advantage was to be taken on either side. All was to be 
" openness and love ; " and Penn meant what he said. 
Strong in the power of truth and kindness, he bent the fierce 
savages of the Delaware to his will. They vowed " to live in 
love with William Penn and his children as long as the moon 
and the sun shall endure." Long years after, they were 
known to recount to strangers, with deep emotion, the words 
which Penn had spoken to them under the old elm-tree. 

The fame of Penn's settlement went abroad in all lands. 
An asylum was opened " for the good and oppressed of 
every nation." Of these there was no lack. Grave and 
God-fearing men from all the Protestant countries sought a 
home where they might live as conscience taught them. The 
new colony grew apace. Its natural advantages were tempt- 
ing. Penn reported it as "a good land, with plentiful 
springs, the air clear and fresh, and an innumerable quantity 
of wild-fowl and fish. During the first year twenty- two 
vessels arrived, bringing two thousand persons. In three 
years Philadelphia was a town of six hundred houses. 

When Penn, after a few years, revisited England, he was able 
truly to relate that " things went on sweetly with the Friends 
in Pennsylvania ; that they increased finely in outward things 
and in wisdom." 



148 



Young Folks^ History of America. 



OGLETHORPE AND GEORGIA. 



The thirteen States which composed the original Union 
were Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New 
York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 

Georgia. 

Of these the latest born 
was Georgia. Only fifty 
years had passed' since 
Penn established the Quak- 
er State on the banks of 
the Delaware. But changes 
greater than centuries have 
sometimes wrought had 
taken place. The Revolu- 
tion had vindicated the 
liberties of the British peo- 
ple. The era of despotic 
government had closed. 
The real governing power 
was no longer the king, but 
the Parliament. 

Among the members of 
Parliament during the rule 
of Sir Robert Walpole was 
one almost unknown to us 
now, but deserving of honor beyond most men of his time. 
His name was James Oglethorpe. He was a soldier, and had 
fought against the Turks and in the great Marlborough wars 
against Louis XIV. In advanced life he became the friend 
of Samuel Johnson. Dr. Johnson urged him to write some 
account of his adventures. "I know no one," he said, 




DR. JOHNSON. 



1732. 



Oglethorpe and Georgia. 



151 



*• whose life would be more interesting ; if I were furnished 
with materials I should be very glad to Avrite it." Edmund 
Burke considered him " a more extraordinary person than any 
he had ever read of." John Wesley " blessed God that ever 
he was born." Oglethorpe attained the great age of ninety- 
six, and died in the year 1785. The year before his death 
he attended the sale of Dr. Johnson's books, and was there 
met by Samuel Rogers, the poet. " Even then," says 
Rogers, " he was the finest figure of a man you ever saw, 
but very, very old ; the flesh of his face like parchment." 

In Oglethorpe's time it was in the power of a creditor to 
imprison, according to his pleasure, the man who owed him 
money and was not able to pay it. It was a common circum- 
stance that a man should be imprisoned during a long series 
of years for a trifling 
debt. Oglethorpe 
had a friend upon 
whom this hard fate 
had fallen. His at- 
tention was thus 
painfully called to the 
cruelties which were 
inflicted upon the 
unfortunate and help- 
less. He appealed to 
Parliament, and after 
inquiry a partial rem- 
edy was obtained. 
The benevolent exer- 
tions of Oglethorpe 
procured liberty for 
multitudes who but for him might have ended their lives in 
captivity. 

This however did not content him. Liberty was an incom- 




GEORGE II. 



152 Young Folks' History of America. 

plete gift to men who had lost, or perhaps had scarcely ever 
possessed, the faculty of earning their own maintenance. 
Oglethorpe devised how he might carry these unfortunate men 
to a place where, under happier auspices, they might open 
a fresh career. He obtained from King George II. a charter 
by which the country between the Savannah and the Altamaha, 
and stretching westward to the Pacific, was erected into the 
province of Georgia. It was to be a refuge for the desenang 
poor, and next to them for Protestants suffering persecution. 
Parliament voted ;^i 0,000 in aid of the humane enterprise, 
and many benevolent persons were liberal with their gifts. In 
November the first exodus of the insolvent took place. Ogle- 
thorpe sailed with one hundred and twenty emigrants, mainly 
selected from the prisons, — penniless, but of good repute. 
He surveyed the coasts of Georgia, and chose a site for the 
capital of his new State. He pitched his tent where Savan- 
nah now stands, and at once proceeded to mark out the line 
of streets and squares. The Indians welcomed him with 
surprise and delight, and he was equally astonished and 
pleased at some of the fantastic ceremonies with which they 
first approached him. One of the Indian chiefs presented 
him with a buffalo skin adorned with the feathers of an eagle. 
"The feathers," he said, " signify love ; the buffalo skin means 
protection : love and protect our families." 

Next year the colony was joined by about a hundred Ger- 
man Protestants, who were then under persecution for their 
beliefs. The colonists received this addition to their numbers 
with joy. A place of residence had been chosen for them, 
which the devout and thankful strangers named Ebenezer. 
They were • charmed with their new abode. The river and 
the hills, they said, reminded them of home. They applied 
themselves with steady industry to the cultivation of indigo 
and silk, and they prospered. 

The fame of Oglethorpe's enterprise spread over Europe. 




OGLETHORPE AND THE INDIANS. 



1736. The Wesley s in Georgia. 155 

All struggling men, against whom the battle of life went hard, 
looked to Georgia as a land of promise. They were the 
men who most urgently required to emigrate ; but they were 
not always the men best fitted to conquer the difficulties of 
the emigrant's life. The progress of the colony was slow. 
The poor persons of whom it was originally composed were 
honest but ineffective, and could not in Georgia more than in 
England find out the way to become self-supporting. Encour- 
agements were given which drew from Germany, from Switz- 
erland, and from the highlands of Scotland, men of firmer 
texture of mind, better fitted to subdue the wilderness and 
bring forth its treasures. 

With Oglethorpe there went out, on his second expedition 
to Georgia, the two brothers, John and Charles Wesley. 
Charles went as secretary to the Goverjior. John was even 
then, although a very young man, a preacher of unusual 
promise. He burned to spread the gospel among the set- 
tlers and their Indian neighbors. He spent two years in 
Georgia, and these were unsuccessful. His cliaracter was 
unformed ; his zeal out of proportion to his discretion. 
The people felt that he preached "personal satires " at them. 
He returned to begin his great career in England, with the 
feeling that his residence in Georgia had been of much value 
to himself, but of very little to the people whom he sought 
to benefit. But the church that he founded is to-day the 
largest Christian body in America, and is especially powerful 
in the South. 

Just as Wesley reached England, his fellow-laborer George 
Whitefield sailed for Georgia. There were now little settle- 
ments spreading inland, and Whitefield visited these, bearing 
to them the word of life. He founded an Orphan-House at 
Savannah, and supported it by contributions, obtained easily 
from men under the power of his unequalled eloquence. 
He visited Georgia very frequently, and his love for that 
colony remained with him to the last. 



156 Yowig Folks History of America. 

Slavery was, at the outset, forbidden in Georgia. It was 
opposed to the gospel, Oglethorpe said, and therefore not to 
be allowed. He foresaw, besides, what has been so bitterly- 
experienced since, that slavery must degrade the poor white 
laborer. But soon* a desire sprang up among the less scru- 
pulous of the settlers to have the use of slaves. Within seven 
years from the first landing, slave-ships were discharging their 
cargoes at Savannah. 



CHAPTER VI. 

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND. 

When the Pilgrims left their native land, the belief in witch- 
craft was universal. England, in much fear, busied herself 
with the slaughter of friendless old women who were sus- 
pected of an alliance with Satan. King James had published 
his book on Demonology a few years before, in which he 
maintained that to forbear from putting witches to death 
was an "odious treason against God." England was no 
wiser than her king. During James's life, and long after his 
decease, the yearly average of executions for witchcraft was 
somewhere about five hundred. 

There were times when the excitement concerning witches 
was so violent in England that almost any old woman whom 
disease or infirmities had rendered unsightly was liable to 
fall under the suspicion of witchcraft. Then, after a trial as 
senseless and as ridiculous as the charge, she was hustled off 
to 'suffer a most painful death. 

The Evil One, according to an old English superstition, used 
to set his mark on all true witches, and that part of the body 
where the stigma was placed was insensible to pain. Hence 
a true witch might be discovered by pricking her with pins. 

Pricking became a profession in Scotland during the ear- 
lier part of the seventeenth century, and a class of execrable 
fellows called prickers filled their slender purses by going 
from place to place, and sticking pins into helpless old 
women. 



158 Young Folks History of America. 

The supposed witches often lost their fortitude under the 
torture, and confessed themselves guilty of whatever they 
were accused of. Being condemned by their own words, it 
only remained to put them to death. 

A vile monster by the name of Hopkins, who became rich 
by going from town to town and pretending to detect witches, 
used to bind suspected persons hand and foot, and cast them 
into the river. He said that true witches renounced their 
baptism, and therefore water would reject them, and they 
would float. Hence, when the accused floated, as commonly 
was the case, she was adjudged guilty, and was taken from 
the water to be hung. 

This wretch, after a notorious career, fell into disrepute, 
the people reasoning that he himself must be in the confi- 
dence of bad spirits, else he would not know so readily who 
were witches and who were not. 

They resolved to measure him by his own standard, by 
casting him into the river in order to see if his body would 
sink or swim. The result was that he floated, and being 
found a wizard by his own test, his miserable end was made 
to verify the Scripture : " In such measure as ye mete, it shall 
be measured to you again." 

The following trustworthy story, the outlines of which we 
gather from Sir Walter Scott, presents a fair picture of witch- 
craft in England, not long before the Commonwealth : — 

About the year 1634 a boy by the name of Edmund Rob- 
inson, the son of an ignorant and superstitious man living in 
Pendle Forest, began to make a great stir in the vicinity of 
the place where he lived, by relating some very remarkable 
occurrences which he claimed to have seen. 

He said that he wandered forth into the woods one day to 
gather wild fruit, when he chanced to meet in a retired glade 
two greyhounds. Thinking to have a bit of ^port, he started 
a hare from a thicket, and tried to induce the greyhounds 



1 688. Witchcraft in New England. 159 

to give chase ; but, contrary to the instincts of such animals, 
they allowed the hare to escape without any attempt to 
molest it. 

He was very angry, and, seizing a stick, was about to beat 
one of the hounds, when suddenly the animal started up 
before him in the form of a woman, whom he presently 
recognized as a certain Dame Dickenson, the wife of a neigh- 
bor. The other hound as suddenly changed into a Httle 
boy. 

Dame Dickenson seemed much chagrined at the discov- 
ery, and told young Robinson that she would give him a sum 
of money if he would promise not to disclose what he had 
seen. He replied, — 

" Nay, thou art a witch." 

The dame, without further parley, took a bridle from her 
pocket, and shaking it over the head of the little boy by her 
side, changed him into a horse. She seized young Robinson, 
and, mounting the steed, galloped away. 

They came to an obscure building in the forest, and, on 
entering with the dame, Robinson beheld an assemblage of 
witches making frightful faces, and performing mysterious 
incantations. They would take hold of a halter, make hide- 
ous faces, and give a pull, when there would suddenly appear 
before them roast meat, porringers of milk, and other rustic 
dainties. 

One would suppose that a story so ridiculous in itself 
would have passed for a myth, even though rendered some- 
what remarkable by the youth and simplicity of the narrator. 
Not so ; the superstitious took alarm, busybodies put the 
wonderful tale in rapid circulation, and the fever of excite- 
ment spread. The boy obtained great celebrity as a " witch 
finder," but at last acknowledged that his marvellous story 
was an imposture. 

The Pilgrims carried with them across the Atlantic the uni- 



i6o Young Folks Histojy of America. 

versal delusion. Their way of life was fitted to strengthen 
it. They lived on the verge of vast and gloomy forests. The 
howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther sounded 
nightly around their cabins. Treacherous savages lurked in 
the woods, watching the time to plunder and to slay. Every 
circumstance was fitted to increase the susceptibility of the 
mind to gloomy and superstitious impressions. But for the 
first quarter of a century, while every ship brought news of 
witch-killing at home, no satanic outbreak disturbed the set- 
tlers. The sense of brotherhood was yet too strong among 
them. Men who have braved great dangers and endured 
great hardships together do not readily come to look upon 
each other as the allies and agents of the Evil One. 

In the State of Massachusetts there was a little town, now 
a fine city, called Salem, sitting pleasantly between two riv- 
ers j and in this town there dwelt at that time a minister 
whose name was Parris. The daughter and niece of Mr. 
Parris T^ecame ill of a strange nervous disease. It was a dark 
time for Massachusetts ; for the colony was at war with the 
French and Indians, and was suffering cruelly from their 
ravages. The doctors sat in solemn conclave on the afflicted 
girls, and pronounced them bewitched. Mr. Parris, not 
doubting that it was even so, bestirred himself to find the 
offenders. He fastened suspicion upon three old women, 
who were at once arrested. Then, with marvellous rapidity, 
the mania spread through the town. The rage and fear of 
the distracted community rose high. Every one suspected 
his neighbor. Children accused their parents. Parents ac- 
cused their children. . The prisons could scarcely contain the 
suspected. The town of Falmouth hanged its minister, a 
man of intelligence and worth. Some near relations of the 
Governor were denounced. Witches were believed to ride 
in the air at night. Even the beasts were not safe. A dog 
was solemnly put to death for the part he had taken in some 
Satanic festivity. 



1 688. Witchcraft m New England. 163 

For more than twelve months this mad panic raged. It is 
just to say that the hideous cruelties which were practised in 
Europe were not commonly resorted to in the prosecution 
of American witches. Torture was seldom inflicted to wring 
confession from the victim. The American test was more 
humane, and not more fooHsh, than the European. Those 
suspected persons who denied their guilt were judged guilty 
and hanged. Those who confessed were, for the most part, 
set free. Many hundreds of innocent persons, who scorned to 
purchase life by falsehood, perished miserably under the fury 
of an excited people. Giles Corey was pressed to death in 
Salem for refusing to confess that he was a wizard. ■ 

The so-called Salem witchcraft seems to have in reahty be- 
gun in Boston in 1688. The children of Mr. John Goodwin 
began to behave in a very strange manner : we are told that 
they " barked like dogs, mewed like cats, and flew through 
the air like geese." Geese often touch their feet to the 
ground when flying, and we presume the Goodwin children 
flew in this way. Cotton Mather, the minister at Boston, 
pronounced these children to be bewitched. A weak old 
woman, who was a Papist, was accused of the witchcraft, and 
was executed. 

The delusion spread, principally among the children, until 
the Massachusetts Bay Colony was filled with terror and 
suspicion. Gallows Hill at Salem, now a tanyard, was the 
scene of those awful tragedies which have so darkened the 
fair pages of colonial history. 

The fire had been kindled in a moment ; it was extin- 
Lguished as suddenly. The Governor of Massachusetts only 
gave emphasis to the reaction which had occurred in the pub- 
lic mind, when he abruptly stopped all prosecutions against 
witches, dismissed all the suspected, pardoned all the con- 
demned. The House of Assembly proclaimed a fast, en- 
treating that God would pardon the errors of his people 



164 Young Folks History of America. 

"-in the late tragedy raised by Satan and his instruments." 
One of the judges stood up in church in Boston, with bowed- 
down head and sorrowful countenance, while a paper was 
read, in which he begged the prayers of the congregation, 
that the innocent blood which he had erringly shed might 
not be visited on the country or on him. The Salem jury 
asked forgiveness of God and the community for what they 
had done under the power of " a strong and general delusion." 
Poor Mr. Parris was now at a sad discount. He made pub- 
lic acknowledgment of his error. But at his door lay the 
origin of all this slaughter of the unoffending. His part in 
the tragedy could not be forgiven. The people would no 
longer endure his ministry, and demanded his removal. Mr. 
Parris resigned his charge, and went forth from Salem a 
broken man. 

If the error of New England was great and most lament- 
able, her repentance was prompt and deep. Five-and-twenty 
years after she had clothed herself in sackcloth, old women 
were still burned to death for witchcraft in Great Britain. The 
year of blood was never repeated in America. 



CHAPTER VII. 
PERSECUTION AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 

The Puritans left their native England and came to the 
'^ outside of the world," as they called it, that they might en- 
joy liberty to worship God according to the way which they 
deemed right. They had discovered that they themselves 
were entitled to toleration. They felt that the restraints 
laid upon them were very unjust and very grievous. But 
their light as yet led them no further. They had not dis- 
covered that people who differed from them were as well 
entitled to be tolerated as they themselves were. Simple as 
it seems, men have not all found out even yet that every 
one of them is fully entitled to think for himself. 

Thus it happened that, before the Pilgrims had enjoyed for 
many years the cheerful liberty of their new home, doctrines 
raised their heads among them which they felt themselves 
bound to suppress. One February day there stepped ashore 
at Boston a young man upon whose coming great issues 
depended. His name was Roger Williams. He was a 
clergyman, "godly and zealous," — a man of rare virtue and 
power. . Cromwell admitted him, in later years, to a consid- 
erable measure of intimacy. He was the friend of John 
Milton in the bright days of the poet's youth, ere yet " the 
ever-during dark " surrounded him. From him Milton ac- 
quired his knowledge of the Dutch language. He carried 
with him to the New World certain strange opinions. 
Long thought had satisfied him that in regard to religious 



1 66 Young Folks' History of America. 

belief and worship man is responsible to God alone. No 
man, said Williams, is entitled to lay compulsion upon an- 
other man in regard to religion. The civil power has to 
do only with the " bodies and goods and outward estates " 
of men. In the domain of conscience God is the only 
ruler. 

New England was not able to receive these sentiments. 
WilHams became v minister at Salem, where he was held in 
high esteem. In time his opinions drew down upon him 
the unfavorable notice of the authorities. The General 
Court of Massachusetts brought him to trial for the errors of 
his belief. His townsmen and congregation deserted him. 
His wife reproached him bitterly with the evil he was bringing 
upon his family. Mr. Williams could do no otherwise. He 
must testify with his latest breath, if need be, against the 
"soul oppression" which he saw around him. The court 
heard him, discovered error in his opinions, declared him 
guilty, and pronounced upon him sentence of banishment. 

All honor to this good and brave, if somewhat eccentric, 
man ! He of all the men of his time saw most clearly the 
beauty of absolute freedom in matters of conscience. He 
went forth from Salem. 

He lived during a part of one winter with the sachem 
Massasoit at Mount Hope. He obtained a grant of land 
from the Indians, and he founded the State of Rhode Island. 
Landing one day from a boat in which he explored his 
new possessions, he climbed a gentle slope, and rested with 
his companions beside a spring. It seemed to him that the 
capital of his infant State ought to be here. 

He laid the foundations of his city, which he named Prov- 
idence, in grateful recognition of the power which had guided 
his uncertain steps. 

It is to-day one of the most beautiful and thrifty cities in 
the Union. His settlement was to be " a shelter for persons 




WHIPPING QUAKERS AT THE CART'S TAIL IN BOSTON. 



1636. Persecution and Religious Liberty. 169 

distressed for conscience." Most notably has it been so. 
Rhode Island has no taint of persecution in her statute-book 
or in her history. Massachusetts continued to drive out her 
heretics. Rhode Island took them in. They might err in 
their interpretation of Scripture. Pity for themselves if they 
did so. But while they obeyed the laws, they might interpret 
Scripture according to the light they had. Many years after, 
Mr. Williams became President of the colony which he had 
founded. The neighboring States were at that time sharply 
chastising the Quakers with lash, branding- iron, and imprison- 
ment. Rhode Island was invited to join in the persecution. 
Mr. Williams replied that he had no law whereby to punish any 
for their belief '' as to salvation and an eternal condition." 
He dissented from the doctrines of the Quakers. In his 
seventy- third year he rowed thirty miles in an open boat to 
wage a public debate with some of the advocates of the sys- 
tem. Thus and thus only could he resist the progress of 
opinions which he deemed pernicious. In beautiful consist- 
ency and completeness stands out to the latest hour of his 
long life this good man's loyalty to the absolute liberty of the 
human conscience. 

He cherished a very forgiving spirit towards those who 
sent him into exile. Learning that the Pequot Indians had 
arranged a meeting with the Narragansetts, for the purpose of 
destroying the Massachusetts Colony, he suddenly surprised 
the council, and dissuaded them from their purpose. In this 
deed he put his life in peril for his enemies. 

Thus, too, it happened that when seven or eight men 
began to deny that infants should be baptized. New England 
never doubted that she did right in forcibly trampling out 
their heresy. The heretics had started a meeting of their 
own, where they might worship God apart from those who 
baptized their infants. One Sabbath morning the constable 
invaded their worship and forcibly bore them away to church. 



I/O Young Folks' History of America, 

Their deportment there was not unsuitable to the manner 
of their inbringing. They audaciously clapped on their hats 
while the minister prayed, and made no secret that they 
deemed it sin to join in the services of those who practised 
infant baptism. For this "separation of themselves from 
God's people " they were put on trial. They were fined, and 
some of the more obdurate among them were ordered to be 
" well whipped." We have no reason to doubt that this order 
was executed in spirit as well as in letter. Then a law went 
forth that every man who openly condemned the baptizing of 
infants should suffer banishment. Thus resolute were the 
good men of New England that the right which they had 
come so far to enjoy should not be enjoyed by any one who 
saw a different meaning from theirs in any portion of the 
Divine Word. 

When Massachusetts had reason to apprehend the coming 
of certain followers of the Quaker persuasion from England, 
she was smitten with a great fear. A fast-day was proclaimed, 
that the alarmed people might "seek the face of God in 
reference to the abounding of errors, especially those of the 
Ranters and Quakers." As they fasted, a ship was nearing 
their shores with certain Quaker women on board. These 
unwelcome visitors were promptly seized and lodged in 
prison ; their books were burned by the hangman ; they 
themselves were sent away home by the ships which brought 
them. All shipmasters were strictly forbidden to bring 
Quakers to the colony. A poor woman, the wife of a Lon- 
don tailor, left her husband and her children, to bring, as she 
said, a message from the Lord to New England. Her trouble 
was but poorly bestowed ; for they to whom her message 
came requited her with twenty stripes and instant banish- 
ment. 

The banished Quakers took the earliest opportunity of 
finding their way back. Laws were passed dooming to death 




ROGER WILLIAMS IN PERIL FOR HIS ENEMIES. 



i66i. 



The Kings Letter. 



173 



all who ventured to return. A poor fanatic was following his 
plough in distant Yorkshire, when he thought the word of the 
Lord came to him, saying, " Go to Boston." He went, and 
the ungrateful men of Boston hanged him. Four persons in 
all suffered death. Many were whipped. Some had their 
ears cut off. But public opinion, which has always been 
singularly humane in America, began to condemn these fool- 
ish cruelties. The Quakers had friends at home, friends who 
had access to the court. There came a letter in the king's 
name directing that the authorities of New England should 
"forbear to proceed further against the Quakers." That 
letter came by the hands of a Quaker who was under sen- 
tence of death if he dared to return. The authorities could 
not but receive it, could not but give effect to it. ■ The 
persecution ceased ; 
and with it may be 
said to close, in 
America, all forcible 
interference with the 
right of men to think 
for themselves. 

The Quakers, as 
they are known to us, 
are of all sects the 
least offensive. A 
persecution of this 
serene, thoughtful, 
self-restrained people 
may well surprise us. 
But, in justice to 
New England, it must 

be told that the first generation of Quakers differed ex- 
tremely from succeeding generations. They were a fanatical 
people, — extravagant, intemperate in speech, rejectors of 




GEORGE FOX. 



1/4 Young Folks History of America. 

lawful authority. They believed themselves guided by an 
" inner light," which habitually placed them at variance with 
the laws and customs of the country in which they lived. 
George Fox declared that " the Lord forbade him to put off 
his hat to any man." His followers were provokingly aggres- 
sive. They invaded public worship. They openly expressed 
their contempt for the religion of their neighbors. They 
perpetually came with '^ messages from the Lord," which 
it was not pleasant to listen to. They appeared in public 
places very imperfectly attired, thus symbolically to express 
and to rebuke the spiritual nakedness of the time. The 
second generation of New England Quakers were people 
of beautiful lives, spiritual-minded, hospitable, and just. 
When their zeal allied itself with discretion, they became a 
most valuable element in American society. They have 
firmly resisted all social evils. But we can scarcely wonder 
that they created alarm at first. The men of New England 
took a very simple view of the subject. They had bought 
and paid for every acre of soil which they occupied. Their 
country was a homestead from which they might exclude 
whom they chose. They would not receive men whose 
object seemed to be to overthrow their customs, civil and 
religious. It was a mistake, but a most natural mistake. 
Long afterwards, when New England saw her error, she made 
what amends she could, by giving compensation to the rep- 
resentatives of those Quakers who had suffered in the evil 
times. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GROWTH AND GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONIES. 

There was at the outset considerable diversity of pattern 
among the governments of the colonies. As time wore on, 
the diversity lessened, and one great type became visible in 
all. There was a governor appointed by the king. There 
was a Parliament chosen by the people. Parliament held 
the purse-strings. The governor applied for what moneys 
the public service seemed to him to require. Parliament, as a 
rule, granted his demands, but not without consideration, and 
a distinct assertion of its right to refuse should cause appear. 
As the Revolution drew near, the function of the governor 
became gradually circumscribed by the pressure of the assem- 
blies. When the governor, as representing the king, fell 
into variance with the popular will, the representatives of the 
people assumed the whole business of government. The 
most loyal of the colonies resolutely defied the encroach- 
ments of the king or his governor. They had a pleasure and 
a pride in their connection with England ; but they were, at 
the same time, essentially a self-governing people. From the 
government which existed before the Revolution it was easy 
for them to step into a federal union. The colonists had all 
their interests and all their grievances in common. It was 
natural for them, when trouble arose, to appoint representa- 
tives who should deliberate regarding their affairs. These 
representatives required an executive to give practical effect 
to their resolutions. The officer who was appointed for that 
purpose was called, not king, but President ; and was chosen, 

12 



1/8 



Young Folks History of America. 



not for life, but for four years. By this simple and natural 
process arose the American government. 

At first Virginia was governed by two councils, one of which 
was English, and the other colonial. Both were entirely 
under the king's control. In a very few years the representa- 
tive system was introduced, and a popular assembly, over 
whose proceedings the governor retained the right of veto, 
regulated the affairs of the colony. Virginia maintained her 
loyalty to the Stuarts. Charles II. ruled her in his exile, and 
was crowned in a robe of Virginian silk, presented by the 
devoted colonists. The baffled Cavaliers sought refuge in 
Virginia from the hateful triumph of Republicanism. Vir- 
ginia refused to ac- 
knowledge the Com- 
monwealth, and had 
to be subjected by 
force. When the 
exiled house was re- 
stored, her joy knew 
no bounds. 

The New Eng- 
land States were of 
different temper and 
different govern- 
ment. While yet 
on board the May- 
flower, the Pilgrims, 
as we have seen, 
formed themselves into a body politic, elected their governor, 
and bojmd themselves to submit to his authority, " confiding 
in his prudence that he would not adventure upon any matter 
of moment without consent of the rest." Every church mem- 
ber was an elector. For sixty years this democratic form of 
government was continued, till the despotic James II. over- 




JAMES II. 



1740. George Washington, 179 

turned it in the closing years of his unhappy reign. The 
Pilgrims carried with them from England a bitter feeling of 
the wrongs which kings had inflicted on them, and they 
arrived in America a people fully disposed to govern them- 
selves. They cordially supported Cromwell. Cromwell, on 
his part, so highly esteemed the people of New England 
that he invited them to return to Europe, and offered them 
settlements in Ireland. They delayed for two years to pro- 
claim Charles II. when he was restored to the English throne. 
They sheltered the regicides who fled from the king's ven- 
geance. They hailed the Revolution, by which the Stuarts 
were expelled and constitutional monarchy set up in Eng- 
land. Of all the American colonies, those of New England 
were the most democratic and the most intolerant of royal 
interference with their liberties. 

New York was bestowed upon the Duke of York, who for 
a time appointed the governor. Pennsylvania was a grant 
to Penn, who exercised the same authority. Ultimately, 
however, in all cases, the appointment of governor rested 
with the king, while the representatives were chosen by the 
people. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

In the year 1 740 there broke out a great European war. 
There was some doubt who should fill the Austrian throne. 
The emperor had just died, leaving no son or brother to 
inherit his dignities. His daughter, Maria Theresa, stepped 
into her father's place, and soon made it apparent that she 
was strong enough to maintain what she had done. Two 
or three kings thought they had a better right than she to 
the throne. The other kings ranged themselves on this side 
or on that. The idea of looking on while foolish neighbors 
destroyed themselves by senseless war, had not yet been sug- 
gested. Every king took part in a great war, and sent his 



i8o Young Folks' History of America. 

people forth to slay and be slain, quite as a matter of course. 
So they raised great armies, fought great battles, burned 
cities, wasted countries, inflicted and endured unutterable 
miseries, all to settle the question about this lady's throne. 
But the lady was of an heroic spirit, well worthy to govern, 
and she held her own, and lived and died an empress. 

During these busy years a Virginian mother, widowed in 
early life, was training up her eldest son in the fear of God, 
all unaware, as she infused the love of goodness and duty 
into his mind, that she was giving a color to the history of 
her country throughout all its coming ages. That boy's name 
was George Washington. 

He was born in 1732. His father, a gentleman of good 
fortune, with a pedigree which can be traced beyond the 
Norman conquest, died when his son was eleven years of 
age. Upon George's mother devolved the care of his early 
education. She was a devout woman, of excellent sense and 
deep affections ; but a strict disciplinarian, and of a temper 
which could brook no shadow of insubordination. Under 
her rule — gentle, and yet strong — George learned obedi- 
ence and self-control. In boyhood he gave remarkable 
promise of those excellences which distinguished his mature 
years. His schoolmates recognized the calm, judicial charac- 
ter of his mind, and he became in all their disputes the arbi- 
ter from whose decision there was no appeal. He inherited 
his mother's love of command, happily tempered by a lofty 
disinterestedness and a love of justice, which seemed to ren- 
der it impossible that he should do or permit aught that was 
unfair. His person was large and powerful. His face 
expressed the thoughtfulness and serene strength of his char- 
acter. He excelled in all athletic exercises. His youthful 
delight in such pursuits developed his physical capabilities to 
the utmost, and gave him endurance to bear the hardships 
which lay before him. 



1743- 



George Washington. 



i8r 



Young gentlemen of Virginia were not educated then so 
liberally as they have been since. It was presumed that 
Washington would be a mere Virginian proprietor and farmer, 




GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



as his father had been ; and his education was no higher than 
that position then demanded. He never learned any lan- 
guage but his own. The teacher of his early years was also 



1 82 Young Folks History of America, 

the sexton of the parish. Even when he was taken to a 
more advanced institution, he attempted no higher study 
than the keeping of accounts and the copying of legal and 
mercantile papers. A few years later, it was thought he 
might enter the civil or military service of his country ; and 
he was put to the study of mathematics and land-surveying. 

George Washington did nothing by halves. In youth, as in 
manhood,, he did thoroughly what he had to do. His school 
exercise books are models of neatness and accuracy. His 
plans and measurements made while he studied land survey- 
ing were as scrupulously exact as if great pecuniary interests 
depended upon them. In his eighteenth year he was em- 
ployed by Government as surveyor of public lands. Many of 
his surveys were recorded in the county offices, and remain 
to this day. Long experience has established their unvarying 
accuracy. In all disputes to which they have any relevancy, 
their evidence is accepted as decisive. During the years 
which preceded the Revolution he managed his estates, 
packed and shipped his own tobacco and flour, kept his own 
books, conducted his own correspondence. His books may 
still be seen. Perhaps no clearer or more accurate record of 
business transactions has been kept in America since the 
Father of American Independence rested from book-keeping. 
The flour which he shipped to foreign ports came to be 
known as his, and the Washington brand was habitually 
exempted from inspection. A most reliable man, his words 
and his deeds, his professions and his practice, are ever found 
in most perfect harmony. By some he has been regarded as 
a stolid, prosaic person, wanting in those features of character 
which captivate the minds of men. Not so. In an earlier 
age George Washington would have been a true knight- errant, 
with an insatiable thirst for adventure and a passionate love of 
battle. He had in a high degree those qualities which make 
ancient knighthood picturesque. But higher qualities than 



1740- Benjamin Franklin. 183 

these bore rule within him. He had wisdom beyond most, 
giving him deep insight into the wants of his time. Pie had 
clear perceptions of the duty which lay to his hand. What he 
saw to be right, the strongest impulses of his soul constrained 
him to do. A massive intellect and an iron strength of will 
were given to him, with a gentle, loving heart, with dauntless 
courage, with purity and loftiness of aim. He had a work of 
extraordinary difficulty to perform. History rejoices to recog- 
nize in him a revolutionary leader against whom no question- 
able transaction has ever been alleged. 

The history of America presents, in one important feature, 
a very striking contrast to the history of nearly all older 
countries. In the old countries, history gathers round some 
one grand central figure, — some judge or priest or king, — 
whose biography tells all that has to be told concerning the 
time in which he lived. That one predominating person — 
David, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon — is among his people 
what the sun is in the planetary system. All movement 
originates and terminates in him, and the history of the peo- 
ple is merely a record of what he has chosen to do or caused 
to be done. In America it has not been so. The American 
system leaves no room for predominating persons. It affords 
none of those exhibitions of sohtary, all-absorbing grandeur 
which are so picturesque, and have been so pernicious. Her 
history is a history of her people, and of no conspicuous 
individuals. Once only in her career is it otherwise. During 
the lifetime of George Washington her history clings very 
closely to him ; and the biography of her great chief becomes 
in a very unusual degree the history of the country. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

While Washington's boyhood was being passed on the 
banks of the Potomac, a young man, destined to help him in 



184 Yotmg Folks History of America. 

gaining the independence of the country, was toiling hard in 
the city of Philadelphia to earn an honest livelihood. His 
name was Benjamin Franklin. He kept a small stationer's 
shop. He edited a newspaper. He was a bookbinder. He 
made ink. He sold rags, soap, and coffee. He was also a 
printer, employing a journeyman and an apprentice to aid 




him in his labors. He was a thriving man ; but he was not 
ashamed to convey along the streets, in a wheelbarrow, the 
paper which he bought for the purposes of his trade. As a 
boy he had been studious and thoughtful. As a man he was 
prudent, sagacious, trustworthy. 

When he had earned a moderate competency he ceased to 
labo- at his business. Henceforth he labored to serve his 



1752. 



Benjamin Franklin. 



185 



fellow-men. Philadelphia owes to Franklin her university, 
her hospital, her first and greatest library. 

He earned renown as a man of science. It had long been 
his thought that lightning and electricity were the same ; but 




BURKE. 



he found no way to prove the truth of his theory. At length 
he made a kite fitted suitably for his experiment. He stole 
away from his house during a thunder-storm, having told no 
one but his son, who accompanied him. The kite was s^nt 



1 86 Young Folks History of America. 

up among the stormy clouds, and the anxious philosopher 
waited. For a time no response to his eager questioning was 
granted, and Franklin's countenance fell. But at length he 
felt the welcome shock, and his heart thrilled with the high 
consciousness that he had added to the sum of human knowl- 
edge. 

When the troubles arose in connection with the Stamp Act, 
Franklin was sent to England to defend the rights of the 
colonists. The vigor of his intellect, the matured wisdom 
of his opinions, gained for him a wonderful supremacy over 
the men with whom he was brought into contact. He was 
examined before ParHament. Edmund Burke said that the 
scene reminded him of a master examined by a parcel of 
school-boys, so conspicuously was the witness superior to his 
interrogators. 

Franklin was an early advocate of the independence of the 
colonies, and aided in preparing the famous Declaration. In 
all the councils of that eventful time he bore a leading part. 
He was the first American ambassador to France ; and the 
good sense and vivacity of the old printer gained for him 
high favor in the fashionable world of Paris. He lived to 
aid in framing the Constitution under which America has 
enjoyed so great prosperity. He died soon after. A few 
months before his death he wrote to Washington : *' I am 
now finishing my eighty-fourth year, and probably with it my 
career in this life ; but in whatever state of existence I ani 
placed hereafter, if I retain any memory of what has passed 
here, I shall with it retain the esteem, respect, and affection 
with which I have long regarded you." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FRENCH COLONIES. 

The French to the greater extent were the occupants of 
Canada. Montreal and Quebec were French cities. Eng- 
land and France were often at variance, and as often their 
hostility affected the peace of the colonies. 

The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which gave a brief repose to 
Europe, left unsettled the contending claims of France and 
England upon American territory. France had possessions 
in Canada and also in Ix^uisiana, at the extreme South, many 
hundreds of miles away. She claimed the entire line of the 
Mississippi River, with its tributaries ; and she had given 
effect to her pretensions by erecting forts at intervals to con- 
nect her settlements in the North with those in the South. 
Her claim included the valley of the Ohio. This was a vast 
and fertile region, whose value had just been discovered by 
the English. It was yet unpeopled ; but its vegetation gave 
evidence of wealth unknown to the colonists in the eastern 
settlements. The French, to establish their claim, sent three 
hundred soldiers into the valley, and nailed upon the trees 
leaden plates which bore the royal arms of France. They 
strove by gifts and persuasion to gain over the natives, and 
expelled the English traders who had made their adventurous 
way into those recesses. 

The English, on their part, were not idle. A great trading 
company was formed, which, in return for certain grants of 
land, became bound to colonize the valley,^ to establish trading 



1 88 Young Folks' History of America. 

relations with the Indians, and to maintain a competent mili- 
tary force. This was in the year 1749. In that age there 
was but one solution of such difficulties. Governments had 
not learned to reason. They could only fight. Early in 
1 75 1 both parties were actively preparing for war. That war 
went ill with France. When the sword was sheathed in 1 759, 
she had lost not only Ohio, but the whole of Canada. 

When the fighting began, it was conducted on the English 
side wholly by the colonists. Virginia raised a little army. 
Washington, then a lad of twenty-one, was offered the com- 
mand, so great was the confidence already felt in his capacity. 
It^was war in miniature as yet. The object of Washington in 
the campaign was to reach a certain fort on the Ohio, and 
hold it as a barrier against French encroachment. He had 
his artillery to carry with him, and to render that possible he 
had to make a road through the wilderness. He struggled 
heroically with the difficulties of his position. But he could 
not advance at any better speed than two miles a day ; and 
he was not destined to reach the fort on the Ohio. After 
toiling on as he best might for six weeks, he learned that the 
French were seeking him with a force far outnumbering his. 
He halted, and hastily constructed a rude intrenchment, which 
he called Fort Necessity, because his men had nearly starved 
while they worked at it. He had three hundred Virginians 
with him, and some Indians. The Indians deserted so soon 
as occasion arose for their services. The French attack was 
not long withheld. Early one summer morning a sentinel 
came in bleeding from a French bullet. All that day the 
fight lasted. At night the French summoned Washington to 
surrender. The garrison were to march out with flag and 
drum, leaving only their artillery. Washington could do no 
better, and he surrendered. 

Thus ended the first campaign in the war which was to 
drive France from Ohio and Canada. Thus opened the 



1755- General Braddock's Campaign. 189 

military career of the man who was to drive England from 
the noblest of her colonial possessions. 

But now the English Government awoke to the necessity 
of vigorous measures to rescue the endangered valley of the 
Ohio. A campaign was planned which was to expel the 
French from Ohio, and wrest from them some portions of 
their Canadian territory. The execution of this great design 
was intrusted to General Braddock, with a force which it was 
deemed would overbear all resistance. Braddock was a vet- 
eran who had seen the wars of forty years. Among the fields 
on which he had gained his knowledge of war was Culloden, 
where he had borne a part in trampling out the rebelhon of 
the Scotch. He was a brave and experienced soldier, and a 
likely man, it was thought, to do the work assigned to him. 
But that proved a sad miscalculation. Braddock had learned 
the rules of war ; but he had no capacity to comprehend its 
principles. In the pathless forests of America he could do 
nothing better than strive to give literal effect to those maxims 
which he had found appUcable in the well-trodden battle- 
grounds of Europe. 

The failure of Washington in his first campaign had not 
deprived him of public confidence. Braddock heard such 
accounts of his efficiency that he invited him to join his staff. 
Washington, eager to efface the memory of his defeat, gladly 
accepted the offer. 

The troops disembarked at Alexandria. The colonists, 
little used to the presence of regular soldiers, were greatly 
emboldened by their splendid aspect and faultless discipline, 
and felt that the hour of final triumph was at hand. After 
some delay, the army, with such reinforcements as the prov- 
ince afforded, began its march. Braddock's object was to 
reach Fort Duquesne, the great centre of French influence 
on the Ohio. It was this same fort of which Washington had 
endeavored so manfully to possess himself in his disastrous 
campaign of the previous year. 



mo Young Folks History of America. 

Fort Duqu€sne had been built by the English, and taken 
from them by the French. It stood at the confluence of the 
Alleghany and Monongahela ; which rivers, by their union at 
this point, form the Ohio. It was a rude piece of fortifica- 
tion, but the circumstances admitted of no better. The fort 
was built of the trunks of trees. Wooden huts for the soldiers 
surrounded it. A little ppace had been cleared in the forest, 
and a few patches of wheat and Indian corn grew luxuriantly 
in that rich soil. The unbroken forest stretched all around. 
Three years later the little fort was retaken by the English, 
and named Fort Pitt. Then in time it grew to be a town, 
and was called Pittsburg; and men found in its neighbor- 
hood boundless wealth of iron and of coal. To-day a great 
and fast-growing city stands where, a century ago, the rug- 
ged fort and its cluster of huts were the sole occupants. 
The rivers, then so lonely, are ploughed by innumerable 
keels; and the air is dark with the smoke of innumerable 
furnaces. The judgment of the sagacious Englishmen who 
deemed this a locahty which they would do well to get hold 
of has been amply borne out by the experience of posterity. 

Braddock had no doubt that the fort would yield to him 
directly he showed himself before it. Benjamin Franklin 
looked at the project with his shrewd, cynical eye. He 
told Braddock that he would assuredly take the fort if he 
could only reach it ; but that the long slender line which his 
army must form in its march " would be cut like thread 
into several pieces " by the hostile Indians. Braddock 
"smiled at his ignorance." Benjamin offered no further 
opinion. It was his duty to collect horses and carriages for 
the use of the expedition, and he did what was required of 
him in silence. 

The expedition crept slowly forward, never achieving more 
than three or four miles in a day ; stopping, as Washington 
said, " to level every mole-hill, to erect a bridge over every 




DEATH OF GENERAL BRADDOCK. 



1755- Death of Braddock. 193 

brook." It left Alexandria on the 20th April. On the 9th July 
Braddock, with half his army, was near the fort. There was 
as yet no evidence that resistance was intended. No enemy 
had been seen. The troops marched on as to assured vic- 
tory. So confident was their chief, that he refused to employ 
scouts, and did not deign to inquire what enemy might be 
lurking near. 

The march was along a road twelve feet wide, in a ravine, 
with high ground in front and on both sides. Suddenly the 
Indian war-whoop burst from the woods. A murderous fire 
smote down the troops. The provincials, not unused to this 
description of warfare, sheltered themselves behind trees and 
fought with steady courage. Braddock, clinging to his old 
rules, strove to maintain his order of battle on the open 
ground. A carnage, most grim and lamentable, was the 
result. His undefended soldiers were shot down by an un- 
seen foe. For three hours the struggle lasted. Then the men 
broke and fled in utter rout and panic. Braddock, vainly 
fighting, fell mortally wounded. He was carried off the field 
by some of his soldiers. The poor pedantic man never got 
over his astonishment at a defeat so inconsistent with the 
established rules of war. 

"Who would have thought it?" he murmured, as they 
bore him from the field. 

He scarcely spoke again, and died in two or three days. 
Nearly eight hundred men, killed and wounded, were lost in 
this disastrous encounter, — about one-half of the entire force 
engaged. 

All the while England and France were nominally at peace. 
But now war was declared. The other European powers fell 
into their accustomed places in the strife, and the flames of 
war spread far and wide. On land and on sea the European 
people strove to shed blood and destroy property, and thus 
produce human misery to the largest possible extent. At the 

13 



194 Young Folks' History of America. 

outset every fight brought defeat and shame to England. Eng- 
lish armies under incapable leaders were sent out to America 
and ignominiously routed by the French. On the continent 
of Europe the uniform course of disaster was scarcely broken 
by a single victory. Even at sea, England seemed to have 
fallen from her high estate, and her fleets were turned back 
from the presence of an enemy. 

The rage of the people knew no bounds. The admiral who 
had not fought the enemy when he should have done so was 
hanged. The Prime Minister began to tremble for his neck. 
One or two disasters more, and the public indignation might 
demand a greater victim than an unfortunate admiral. The 
Ministry resigned, and William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chat- 
ham, came into power. 

Then, all at once, the scene changed, and there began 
a career of triumph more brilliant than even England had 
ever known. The French fleets were destroyed. French 
possessions all over the world were seized. French armies 
were defeated. Every post brought news of victory. For 
once the English people, greedy as they are of military glory, 
were satisfied. 

One of the most splendid successes of Pitt's administra- 
tion was gained in America. The colonists had begun to 
lose respect for the English army and the English govern- 
ment. But Pitt quickly regained their confidence. They 
raised an army of 50,000 men to help his schemes for the ex- 
tinction of French power. A strong English force was sent 
out,* and a formidable invasion of Canada was organized. 

Most prominent among the strong points held by the 
French was the city of Quebec. Thither in the month of 
June came a powerful English fleet, with an army under the 
command of General Wolfe. Captain James Cook, the famous 
navigator, who discovered so many of the sunny islands 
of the Pacific, was master of one of the ships. Quebec stands 




FRENCH AND ENGLISH NAVAL CONFLICT. 



1759- The Death of Wolfe. 197 

upon a peninsula formed by the junction of the St. Charles 
and the St. Lawrence Rivers. The lower town was upon the 
beach. The upper was on the cliffs, which at that point rise 
precipitously to a height of two hundred feet. Wolfe tried 
the effect of a bombardment. He laid the lower town in 
ruins very easily, but the upper town was too remote from his 
batteries to sustain much injury. It seemed as if the enter- 
prise would prove too much for the English, and the sensitive 
Wolfe was thrown by disappointment and anxiety into a vio- 
lent fever. But he was not the man to be baffled. The 
shore for miles above the town was carefully searched. An 
opening was found whence a path wound up the cliff. Here 
Wolfe would land his men, and lead them to the Heights of 
Abraham. Once there, they would defeat the French and take 
Quebec, or die where they stood. 

On a starlight night in September the soldiers were em- 
barked in boats which dropped down the river to the chosen 
landing-place. As the boat which carried Wolfe floated 
silently down, he recited to his officers Gray's " Elegy in a 
Country Churchyard," then newly received from England ; 
and he exclaimed at its close, " I would rather be the author 
of that poem than take Quebec to-morrow." He was a 
man of feeble bodily frame, but he wielded the power which 
genius in its higher forms confers. Amid the excitements 
of impending battle he could walk, with the old delight, 
in the quiet paths of literature. 

The soldiers landed, and clambered as they best might up the 
rugged pathway. All through the night armed men stepped 
silently from the boats and silently scaled those formidable 
cliffs. The sailors contrived to drag up a few guns. When 
morning came, the whole army stood upon the Heights of 
Abraham ready for the battle. 

Montcalm, the French commander, was so utterly taken by 
surprise that he refused at first to believe the presence of the 



198 



Young Folks History of America, 



English army. He lost no time in marching forth to meet 
his unexpected assailants. The conflict was fierce but not 
prolonged. The French were soon defeated and put to flight. 
Quebec surrendered. But Montcalm did not make that sur- 







MONTCALM. 



render, nor did Wolfe receive it. Both generals fell in the 
battle. Wolfe died happy that the victory was gained. In his 
last moments he heard the cry, — 

" They fly ! they fly ! " 

"Who fly?" he asked. 




DEATH OF WOLFE. 



1759- 1^^^^ Death of Wolfe. 201 

" The French," was the answer. 

" Then I die content." 

Montcahii was thankful that death spared him the humih- 
ation of giving up Quebec. They died as enemies. But 
the men of a new generation, thinking less of the accidents 
which made them foes than of the noble courage and de- 
votedness which united them, placed their names together 
upon the monument which marks out to posterity the scene 
of this decisive battle. 

This battle had a most important bearing on the destiny of 
America. By it the English rule was established in America, 
and Canada became an English possession. 

France did not quietly accept her defeat. Next year 
she made an attempt to regain Quebec. It was all in vain. 
In due time the success of the English resulted in a treaty 
of peace, under which France ceded to England all her 
claims upon Canada. Spain at the same time relinquished 
Florida. England had now undisputed possession of the west- 
ern continent, from the region of perpetual winter to the Gulf 
of Mexico. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE EVE OF REVOLUTION. 

A CENTURY and a half had now passed since the first 
colony had been planted on American soil. The colonists 
were fast ripening into fitness for independence. They had 
increased with marvellous rapidity. Europe never ceased 
to send forth her superfluous and needy thousands. Amer- 
ica opened wide her hospitable doors, and gave assurance 
of liberty and comfort to all who came. The thirteen colo- 
nies now contained a population of about three millions. 

Up to the year 1764, the Americans cherished a deep 
reverence and affection for the mother country. They were 
proud of her great place among the nations. They gloried 
in the splendor of her military achievements. They copied 
her manners and her fashions. She was in all things their 
model. They always spoke of England as " home." To 
be an Old England man was to be a person of rank and 
importance among them. They yielded a loving obedience 
to her laws. They were governed, as Benjamin Franklin 
stated it, at the expense of simple pen and ink. When 
money was asked from their Assemblies, it was given with- 
out grudge. "They were led by a thread," such was their 
love for the land which gave them birth. 

Ten or twelve years passed. A marvellous change 
came over the temper of the American people. They 
bound themselves by great oaths to use no article of 
English manufacture, to engage in no transaction which 



1764. The Eve of Revolution. 2O3 

would put a shilling into any English pocket. They formed 
"the inconvenient habit of carting," that is, of tarring and 
feathering and dragging through the streets, such persons 
as avowed friendship for the English government. They 
burned the Acts of the English Parliament by the hands 
of the common hangman. They killed the king's soldiers. 
They refused every amicable proposal. They cast from 
them for ever the king's authority. They engendered a 
dislike to the English name, of which some traces lingered 
among them for generations. 

By what unhallowed magic was this change wrought 
so swiftly ? By what process, in so few years, were three 
millions of people taught to abhor the country they so 
loved ? 

The ignorance and folly of the English government 
wrought this evil. But there is little cause for regret. 
Under the fuller knowledge of our modern time, colonies 
are allowed to discontinue their connection with the mother 
country when it is their wish to do so. Better had America 
gone in peace. But better to go, even in wrath and blood- 
shed, than continue in paralyzing dependence upon England. 

For many years England had governed her American 
colonies harshly, and in a spirit of undisguised selfishness. 
America was ruled, not for her own good, but for the good 
of English commerce. She was not allowed to export her 
products except to England. No foreign ship might enter 
her ports. Woollen goods were not allowed to be sent 
from one colony to another. At one time the manufacture 
of hats was forbidden. In a liberal mood Parliament re- 
moved that prohibition, but decreed that no maker of hats 
should employ any negro workman, or any larger number 
of apprentices than two. Iron-works were forbidden. Up 
to the latest hour of English rule the Bible was not allowed 
to be printed in America. 



204 Young Folks History of America. 

The Americans had long borne the cost of their own 
government and defence. But in that age of small revenue 
and profuse expenditure on unmeaning continental wars, 
it had been often suggested that America should be taxed 
for the purposes of the home government. Some one pro- 
posed that to Sir Robert Walpole in a time of need. The 
wise Sir Robert shook his head. It must be a bolder man 
than he was who would attempt that. A man bolder, be- 
cause less wise, was found in due time. 

The Seven Years' War had ended, and England had 
added a hundred millions to her national debt. The coun- 
try was suffering, as countries always do after great wars, 
and it was no easy matter to fit the new burdens on to the 
national shoulder. The hungry eye of Lord Grenville 
searched where a new tax might be laid. The Americans 
had begun visibly to prosper. Already their growing wealth 
was the theme of envious discourse among English mer- 
chants. The English officers who had fought in America 
spoke in glowing terms of the magnificent hospitality which 
had been extended to them. No more need be said. The 
House of Commons passed a resolution asserting their right 
to tax the Americans. No solitary voice was raised against 
this fatal resolution. Immediately after, an Act was passed 
imposing certain taxes upon silks, coffee, sugar, and other 
articles. The Americans remonstrated. They were willing, 
they said, to vote what moneys the king required of them, 
but they vehemently denied the right of any Assembly in 
which they were not represented to take from them any 
portion of their property. They were the subjects of the 
kingj but they owed no obedience to the English Parlia- 
ment. Lord Grenville went on his course. He had been 
told the Americans would complain but submit, and he be- 
lieved it. Next session an Act was passed imposing Stamp 
Duties on America. The measure awakened no interest. 



1765- The Eve of Revolution. 205 

Edmund Burke said he had never been present at a more 
languid debate. In the House of Lords there was no 
debate at all. With so little trouble was a continent rent 
away from the British empire. 

Benjamin Franklin told the House of Commons that 
America would never submit to the Stamp Act, and that 
no power on earth could enforce it. The Americans made 
it impossible for Government to mistake their sentiments. 
Riots, which swelled from day to day into dimensions more 
"enormous and alarming," burst forth in the New England 
States. Everywhere the stamp distributors were compelled 
to resign their offices. One unfortunate man was led forth 
to Boston Common, and made to sign his resignation in 
presence of a vast crowd. Another, in precarious health, 
was visited in his sick-room, and obliged to pledge that if 
he lived he would resign. A universal resolution was made 
that no Enghsh goods would be imported till the Stamp 
Act was repealed. The colonists would " eat nothing, 
drink nothing, wear nothing that comes from England," 
while this great injustice endured. The Act was to come 
into force on the ist of November. That day the bells 
rang out funereal peals, and the colonists wore the aspect 
of men on whom some heavy calamity has fallen. But the 
Act never came into force. Not one of Lord Grenville's 
stamps was ever bought or sold in America. Some of the 
stamped paper was burned by the mob. The rest was hid- 
den away to save it from the same fate. Without stamps, 
marriages were null ; mercantile transactions ceased to be 
binding ; suits at law were impossible. Nevertheless, the 
business of human life went on. Men married ; they 
bought ; they sold ; they went to law, — illegally, because 
without stamps. But no harm came of it. 

England heard with amazement that America refused to 
obey the law. There were some who demanded that the 



2o6 Young Folks History of America. 

Stamp Act should be enforced by the sword. But it greatly 
moved the English merchants that America should cease 
to import their goods. William Pitt — not yet Earl of Chat- 
ham — denounced the Act, and said he was glad America 
had resisted. Pitt and the merchants triumphed, and the Act 




WILLIAM PITT — EARL OF CHATHAM. 



was repealed. There was illumination in the city that night. 
The city bells rang for joy. The ships in the Thames dis- 
played all their colors. The saddest heart in all London was 
that of poor King George, who never ceased to lament " the 
fatal repeal of the Stamp Act." 



1766. The Eve of Revolution. 207 

It was during the agitation arising out of the Stamp Act 
that the idea of a General Congress of the States was sug- 
gested. A loud cry for union had arisen. "Join or die," was 
the prevailing sentiment. The Congress met in New York. 
It did little more than discuss and petition. It is interesting 
merely as one of the first exhibitions of a tendency towards 
federal union in a country whose destiny, in all coming time, 
this tendency was to fix. 

The repeal of the Stamp Act delayed only for a little the 
fast-coming crisis. A new Ministry was formed, with the Earl 
of Chatham at its head. But soon the great earl lay sick 
and helpless, and the burden of government rested on in- 
capable shoulders. Charles Townshend, a clever, captivat- 
ing, but most indiscreet man, became the virtual Prime 
Minister. The feeling in the public mind had now become 
more unfavorable to America. Townshend proposed to levy 
a variety of taxes from the Americans. The most famous of 
his taxes was one of threepence per pound on tea. All his 
proposals became law. 

This time the more thoughtful Americans began to despair 
of justice. The boldest scarcely ventured yet to suggest 
revolt against England, so powerful and so loved. But the 
grand final refuge of independence was silently brooded over 
by many. The mob fell back on their customary solution. 
Great riots occurred. To quell these disorders, English troops 
encamped on Boston Common. The town swarmed with red- 
coated men, every one of whom was a humiliation. Their 
drums beat on the Sabbath, and troubled the orderly men of 
Boston even in church. At intervals fresh transports dropped 
in, bearing additional soldiers, till a great force occupied 
the town. The galled citizens could ill brook to be thus 
bridled. The ministers prayed to Heaven for deliverance 
from the presence of the soldiers. The General Court of 
Massachusetts called vehemently on the Governor to remove 



208 Young Folks History of America. 

them. The Governor had no powers in that matter. He 
called upon the Court to make suitable provision for the 
king's troops, — a request which it gave the Court infinite 
pleasure to refuse. 

The universal irritation broke forth in frequent brawls 
between soldiers and people. One wintry moonlight night 
in March, when snow and ice lay about the streets of Boston, 
a more than usually determined attack was made upon a 
party of soldiers. The mob thought the soldiers dared not 
fire without the order of a magistrate, and were very bold in 
the strength of that belief. It proved a mistake. The sol- 
diers did fire, and the blood of eleven slain or wounded 
persons stained the frozen streets. This was "the Boston 
Massacre," which greatly inflamed the patriot antipathy to 
the mother country. 

One day ships destined for Boston loaded with taxed tea 
show their tall masts in the bay. The citizens run together 
to hold council. It is Sunday, and the men of Boston are 
strict. But here is an exigency, in presence of which all 
ordinary rules are suspended. The crisis has come at length. 
If that tea is landed it will be sold ; it will be used ; and 
American liberty will become a byword upon the earth. 

Samuel Adams was the true king in Boston at that time. 
He was a man in middle life, of cultivated mind and stainless 
reputation, a powerful speaker and writer, a man in whose 
sagacity and moderation all men trusted. He resembled the 
old Puritans in his stern love of liberty, his reverence for the 
Sabbath, his sincere, if somewhat formal, observance of all 
religious ordinances. He was among the first to see that 
there was no resting-place in this struggle short of indepen- 
dence. " We are free," he said, " and want no king." The 
men of Boston felt the power of his resolute spirit, and man- 
fully followed where Samuel Adams led. 

It was hoped that the agents of the East India Company 



1773- Destruction of Tea. 21 1 

would have consented to send the ships home. But the 
agents refused. Several days of excitement and ineffectual 
negotiation ensued. People flocked in from the neighboring 
towns. The time was spent mainly in public meeting. The 
city resounded with impassioned discourse. But meanwhile 
the ships lay peacefully at their moorings, and the tide of 
patriot talk seemed to flow in vain. Other measures were 
visibly necessary. One day a meeting was held, and the ex- 
cited people continued in hot debate till the shades of evening 
fell. No progress was made. At length Samuel Adams 
stood up in the dimly lighted church, and announced, " This 
meeting can do nothing more to save the country." With a 
stern shout the meeting broke up. Fifty men disguised as 
Indians hurried down to the wharf, each man with a hatchet 
in his hand. The crowd followed. The ship's were boarded ; 
the chests of tea were brought on deck, broken up, and 
flung into the bay. The approving citizens looked on in 
silence. It was felt by all that the step was grave and event- 
ful in the highest degree. So still was the crowd that no 
sound was heard but the stroke of the hatchet and the splash 
of the shattered chests as they fell into the sea. All ques- 
tions about the disposal of those cargoes of tea at all events 
are now solved. 

This is what America did. It was for England to make 
the next move. Lord North was now at the head of the 
British government. It was his lordship's behef that the 
troubles in America sprang from a small number of ambitious 
persons, and could easily, by proper firmness, be suppressed. 
" The Americans will be lions while we are lambs," said Gen- 
eral Gage. The king believed this. Lord North believed it. 
In this deep ignorance he proceeded to deal with the great 
emergency. He closed Boston as a port for the landing and 
shipping of goods. He imposed a fine to indemnify the East 
India Company for their lost teas. He withdrew the charter 



212 Young Folks^ History of America. 

of Massachusetts. He authorized the Governor to send polit- 
ical offenders to England for trial. Great voices were raised 
against these severities. Lord Chatham, old in constitution 
now, if not in years, and near the close of his career, pleaded 
for measures of conciliation. Edmund Burke justified the 
resistance of the Americans. Their opposition was fruidess : 
all Lord North's measures of repression became law; and 
General Gage, with an additional force of soldiers, was sent 
to Boston to carry them into effect. 

Gage was an authority on American affairs. He had fought 
under Braddock. Among blind men the one-eyed man 
is king. Among the profoundly ignorant the man with a 
little knowledge is irresistibly persuasive. " Four regiments 
sent to Boston," said the hopeful Gage, " will prevent any 
disturbance." He was beheved ; but, unhappily for his own 
comfort, he was sent to Boston to secure the fulfilment of his 
own prophecy. He threw up some fortifications and lay as in 
a hostile city. The Americans appointed a day of fasting and 
humiliation. They did more. They formed themselves into 
military companies. They occupied themselves with drill. 
They laid up stores of ammunition. Most of them had mus- 
kets, and could use them. He who had no musket now got 
one. They hoped that civil war would be averted, but there 
was no harm in being ready. 

While General Gage was throwing up his fortifications at 
Boston, there met at Philadelphia a Congress of delegates, 
sent by the States, to confer in regard to the troubles which 
were thickening round them. Twelve States were represented. 
Georgia as yet paused timidly on the brink of the perilous 
enterprise. They were notable men who met there, and their 
work is held in enduring honor. " For genuine sagacity, for 
singular moderation, for solid wisdom," said the great Earl of 
Chatham, " the Congress of Philadelphia shines unrivalled." 
The low-roofed, quaint old room in which their meetings were 




DESTRUCTION OF TEA, 



1774- Congress at Philadelphia. 215 

held became one of the shrines which Americans delight to 
visit. George Washington was there, and his massive sense 
and copious knowledge were a supreme guiding power. 
Patrick Henry, then a young man, brought to the council 
a wisdom beyond his years, and a fiery eloquence, which, to 
some of his hearers, seemed almost more than human. He 
had already proved his unfitness for farming and for shop- 
keeping. He was now to prove that he could utter words 
which swept over a continent, thrilling men's hearts like the 
voice of the trumpet, and rousing them to heroic deeds. 
John Routledge from South Carolina aided him with an elo- 
quence little inferior to his own. Richard Henry Lee, with 
his Roman aspect, his bewitching voice, his ripe scholarship, 
his rich stores of historical and political knowledge, would 
have graced the highest assemblies of the Old World. John 
Dickenson, the wise farmer from the banks of the Delaware, 
whose Letters had done so much to form the pubhc senti- 
ment, — his enthusiastic love of England overborne by his 
sense of wrong, — took regretful but resolute part in with- 
standing the tyranny of the English government. 

We have the assurance of Washington that the members 
of this Congress did not aim at independence. As yet it was 
their wish to have wrongs redressed and to continue British 
subjects. Their proceedings give ample evidence of this 
desire. They drew up a narrative of their wrongs. As a 
means of obtaining redress, they adopted a resolution that all 
commercial intercourse with Britain should cease. They 
addressed the king, imploring his majesty to remove those 
grievances which endangered their relations with him. They 
addressed the people of Great Britain, with whom, they said, 
they deemed a union as their greatest glory and happiness ; 
adding, however, that they would not be hewers of wood and 
drawers of water to any nation in the world. They appealed 
to their brother colonists of Canada for support in their 



2i6 Young Folks History of America, 

peaceful resistance to oppression. But Canada, newly con- 
quered from France, was peopled almost wholly by French- 
men. A Frenchman at that time was contented to enjoy 
such an amount of liberty and property as his king was 
pleased to permit. x\nd so from Canada there came no 
response of sympathy or help. 

Here Congress paused. Some members believed, with 
Washington, that their remonstrances would be effectual. 
Others, less sanguine, looked for no settlement but that which 
the sword might bring. They adjourned, to meet again in 
May. This was enough for the time. What further steps 
the new events of that coming summer might call for, they 
would be prepared, with God's help, to take. 

England showed no relenting in her treatment of the 
Americans. The king gave no reply to the address of Con- 
gress. The Houses of Lords and of Commons refused even 
to allow that address to be read in their hearing. The king 
announced his firm purpose to reduce the refractory colonists 
to obedience. Parliament gave loyal assurances of support 
to the blinded monarch. All trade with the colonies was 
forbidden. All American ships and cargoes might be seized 
by those who were strong enough to do so. The alternative 
presented to the American choice was without disguise. The 
Americans had to fight for their liberty, or forego it. The 
people of England had, in those days, no control over the 
government of their country. All this was managed for them 
by a few great families. Their allotted part was to toil hard, 
pay their taxes, and be silent. If they had been permitted to 
speak, their voice would have vindicated the men who asserted 
the right of self-government, — a right which Englishmen 
themselves were not to enjoy for many a long year. 

General Gage had learned that considerable stores of am- 
munition were collected at the village of Concord, eighteen 
miles from Boston. He would seize them in' the king's 



1775- The Story of Lexington and Concord. 217 

name. Late one April night eight hundred soldiers set out 
on this errand. They hoped their coming would be unex- 
pected, as care had been taken to prevent the tidings from 
being carried out of Boston. But as they marched, the clang 
of bells and the firing of guns gave warning far and near of 
their approach. In the early morning they reached Lex- 
ington. 

THE STORY OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. 

A day or two before the eventful 19th of April, 1775, 
General Gage began preparations for a military expedition. 
Boats from a ship-of-war were launched to carry the troops 
across the Charles River. The movement was observed 
by the patriots. Companies of soldiers were massed on 
Boston Common^ under pretence of learning a new mili- 
tary exercise. 

Doctor, afterwards General, Warren, who fell at Bunker 
Hill, at once sent Paul Revere, an energetic patriot of 
Boston, to arouse the country. He was to notify Han- 
cock and Adams, who were at Lexington, and to warn the 
people of Concord that the troops were coming to destroy 
the military stores collected there. Warren had been 
informed of the object of the expedition. 

Revere only waited to ask a friend to hang out two lan- 
terns in the steeple of the North Meeting-house, as a signal 
to notify watchers on the other side of the river when the 
troops were in motion, and then rowed across the stream to 
Charlestown. He was not a moment too soon. General 
Gage heard that his plans were discovered. Orders were, 
at once given that no person should be allowed to leave 
Boston. Had these orders been given five minutes sooner, 
the whole course of the Revolution might have been 
changed. As it was, Revere reached the other side in 
safety. He galloped on horsebaek through the towns, 



2l8 



Yotmg Folks' History of America. 



calling up the people in every house. He 'reached Lex- 
ington. Hancock and Adams were warned. Still pressing 
on, he was captured by a party of British officers, but not 




THE SIGNAL LANTERNS. 



before he had communicated his news to a friend, who car- 
ried it on to Concord. 

Meanwhile the troops had embarked at the foot of Bos- 




PAUL REVERE'S ride. 



1775- The Battle of Lexington. 221 

ton Common, — which is now solid ground, — crossed 
the Charles, and landed in Cambridge. By marching all 
night, they reached Lexington just as day was breaking. 
The militia of that town had been called out at one o'clock 
in the morning by the ringing of the church bell, and had 
been dismissed until they should be called together again 
by the beat of the drum on the appearance of the British 
troops. 

At length a messenger who had been sent out to watch 
for the coming of the troops galloped back with news of 
their arrival. The drum was quickly beaten. Sixty or sev- 
enty farmers took their places in the ranks, to meet a force 
of more than ten times as many regular soldiers. 

It was a chilly spring morning, just before sunrise, when 
the British force marched upon Lexington Common. The 
act and attitude of the little band of farmers opposed to 
this force made them as grand a type of patriotism and 
bravery as the world has ever witnessed. 

On two points the patriots were determined. They 
were ready to die for their country. Their captain, John 
Parker, had given the strictest orders that they should not 
be the first to fire. Yet the orders were hardly necessary. 
Major Pitcairn rode upon the Common, and shouting with 
an oath to the " villains " and " rebels," as he called them, 
to disperse, almost instantly ordered his soldiers to fire, 
and he set the example. 

It was murder. The captain of the Lexington company 
had determined to disperse his men, and when the firing 
began they retreated quickly. But they left eleven of their 
comrades dead, and nine were wounded, — fully one- 
quarter of all who had rallied at the sound of the drum. 
The British fire was returned by only a few of the wounded 
Americans. No English blood was shed. But the hostil- 
ities had begun. It was no battle, and yet Samuel Adams, 



222 Young Folks' History of America. 

who heard from a distance the firing which announced to 
him the opening of a conflict for which he had long been 
looking, and from which his soul did not flinch, exclaimed, 
" Oh, what a glorious morning this is ! " 

The regulars knew that the whole country was rising in 
arms. They foresaw that if they were to accomplish the 
object of their expeditior,-^to destroy the stores at Con- 
cord, — they must press on. Accordingly, they only stopped 
to cheer loudly over their easy victory over threescore 
farmers who had not attacked them, and resumed their 
march. Concord is six miles from Lexington, but so quickly 
did the troops move that it was only seven o'clock in the 
morning when they reached the town. 

They were too late, however. The alarm had been 
given hours before. The inhabitants of the town, with 
strong hands and willing hearts, had made the expedi- 
tion fruitless. The military stores had been mostly re- 
moved, scattered, and concealed. Something remained 
for the British to destroy, but by no means enough to 
pay for the hard march and the uselessly shed blood. 

Meantime, the neighboring towns were aroused. Their 
companies of militia and minute-men came pouring in from 
all the country around. Their numbers were still too few 
to attack the troops. Indeed, at that time there was little 
intention of attacking them. They had first assembled 
near the liberty-pole in the village of Concord ; but, when 
they saw that they were outnumbered four to one, they 
withdrew to a hill on the other side of Concord River, 
about a mile from the centre of the town. 

Meanwhile, several parties of British soldiers were sent 
out to search for the concealed supplies. One went over 
the south bridge, and another over the north bridge. As 
the Provincial soldiers were in full view from the north 
bridge, a half of the latter detachment, about a hundred in 



1775- 



The Battle of Concord. 



225 



all, were left to guard the bridge while the rest went 
forward. 

The battle was fought by accident. From the hill where 
they watched the regulars, the Concord men saw their 
bridge held against them. Worse yet, smoke could be 
seen rising in the neighborhood of their homes. What 
could they do but march to the rescue of their wives and 
children and property ? There was a short consultation. 
Then Colonel Barrett, whose house the north-bridge detach- 
ment had gone to search, gave the order to advance. 




BRITISH AT COLONEL BARRETT'S. 



" I haven't a man that is afraid to go," said Isaac 
Davis, captain of the company from Acton ; and, drawing 
his sword, he called out, " March ! " 

The farmer-soldiers fell into line, and marched bravely 
and confidently down the hill and into the road that led to 
the bridge. The order given at Lexington was repeated 
here. Not a shot was to be fired unless the regulars attacked 

15 



226 



Young Folks History of America. 



them. The British had heard the command to advance. 
Thev saw the men marching towards them, and began 




ROADS AND HISTORIC LOCALITIES OF CONCORD, MASS. 

quickly to tear up the planks of the bridge. On this the 
Americans quickened their steps. Then the British fired, — 



•mi? 




1775- The Battle of Concord. 229 

at first one or two shots. No one was hurt. Then a few 
more, by which two men were wounded ; then a volley, and 
two of the patriots fell dead. 

" Fire, fellow-soldiers ! For God's sake, fire ! " shouted 
Major John Buttrick, of Concord, leaping in the air, and 
turning round to his men. The American Revolution was 
begun. Two British soldiers were killed, and several more 
were wounded. Again the regulars had fired first. This 
time the fire had been returned. Blood had been shed by 
men in armed rebellion against the mother country of 
Great Britain. 

■ This was the battle of Concord. It was as short as the 
battle of Lexington, — not more than two minutes from the 
first shot to the last. The Americans had attacked and 
taken the bridge. The guarding party had retreated in 
disorder toward the town. 

When the British forces had been gathered in the town 
once more, their officers were much perplexed. They knew 
they must retreat, and the sooner the better. They were sure 
they would be attacked, and had no means of knowing by 
how many men, or in what way. Delay only increased the 
danger. 

As quickly as possible the march toward Lexington and 
Boston was begun. It was now about noon. The winter 
had been the mildest ever known in New England, and the 
spring the earliest. The day had become intensely hot ; 
the sun poured his rays fiercely down on the alarmed and 
retreating battalion of troops. The Americans had inter- 
cepted the provision train sent out from Boston to supply 
them with food. They had only what they could plunder 
from the people on the road. But this was not the worst 
feature of their situation. 

The minute-men, without orders from their officers, and 
each acting on his own account, had run across the country. 



230 Young Folks History of America, 

and they lay in ambush behind the trees and the walls along 
the road. They fired at the British from their safe hiding- 
places, and when the column had passed them, they hur- 
ried along by a circuitous route and found other retreats 
from which to wage their terrible and harassing war. As 
some of these men grew tired, others came in from the 
neighboring country to take their places. So the fight 
went on. , 

At first the trained soldiery marched in order. Their 




FIGHT AT MERRIAM'S CORNER. 

comrades were falling at their sides, but it was more 
dangerous to stop than to go on. Soon they became so 
exhausted and alarmed, for their ammunition was nearly 
used up, that they began to run in wild disorder. Their 
officers were obliged to threaten the soldiers with death to 
compel them to form the lines again. 

It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. The de- 
moralized troops were within a mile of the place where 
they had murdered the people of Lexington in the morn- 
ing. Here they were met by the flower of the British 



1766. Repeal of the Stamp Act, 231 

army, that had been sent for their succor from Boston. 
These troops were under Lord Percy, and were twelve 
hundred strong, with two field-pieces. They were not a 
moment too soon. Lord Percy formed a hollow square to 
receive the fugitives, who, as a British writer of the time 
said, lay down to rest, " their tongues hanging out of their 
mouths like those of a dog after a chase." 

Even when the regulars were thus reinforced, their posi- 
tion was very perilous. Their enemies were increasing in 
numbers every moment. In a short time the troops would 
certainly be cut off and overwhelmed unless they moved at 
once. The march was resumed, and the fighting began 
again. More men came up to help the patriots, who had 
become weary with their long, irregular march and hard 
work. It was seven o'clock in the evening when the British 
force reached Charlestown. Protected by the guns of the 
ship-of-war in the harbor, they took to their boats and were 
ferried across to Boston. 

The losses of the British were seventy-three killed, one 
hundred and seventy-two wounded, and twenty-six missing ; 
while the Americans lost forty-nine killed, thirty-six 
wounded, and five missing. The loss of the regulars in 
officers was very heavy. 

We will close this long chapter with another story, which 
we give to illustrate the spirit of the colonists during the 
trying times immediately preceding the outbreak of hos- 
tilities. 

THE GERMAN BOY'S FUNERAL. 

In the middle of May, 1766, the. news of the repeal of 
the Stamp Act was received in Boston. The town then 
numbered some twenty thousand people. The fate of the 
bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act had been -for weeks 
almost the only subject of discussion. Upon it, the pa- 
triots felt, rested the destiny of the colonies. 



232 



Young Folks' History of America. 



Men scanned the blue line of Boston Harbor, to see the 
white sails rise from the sea, and rushed to the wharves to 
receive the first intelligence from London. At length, on 
May 1 6, a lovely vernal day, a brigantine flying the Eng- 
lish flag was seen beyond the green islands of the bay, and 

soon entered the 
inner harbor. 
She was met at 
the wharf by a 
crowd, restless 
and impatient 
with anxiety. 

An hour later 
the bells of the 
town began to 
ring ; the long- 
idle ships in the 
harbor shot their 
ensigns into the 
warm May air ; 
the booming of 
cannon startled 
the people of 
the neighboring 
towns, and, as 

CHRIST CHURCH, THE OLD NORTH MEETING-HOUSE. CVCnmg CamC On, 

great bonfires on 
Beacon Hill blazed upon the sea. From lip to lip passed 
the single expression of joy and relief, " The Stamp Act 
is repealed ! " 

A few days later witnessed a more remarkable scene, — 
a public holiday to give expression to the joy. At one 
o'clock in the morning the bell of Doctor Byles's church, 
standing near the Liberty Tree, where the colonists used to 




1770. Ladies Deny Themselves Tea. 233 

meet, gave the signal for the beginning of the festival. It 
was followed by the melodious chimes of Christ Church, 
at the North End, and then by all the bells of the town. 

The first shimmering light and rosy tinges of the May 
morning found Hollis Street steeple fluttering with gay 
banners, and the Liberty Tree displaying among its new 
leaves an unexampled glory of bunting and flags. 

The festivities lasted until midnight. At night an obe- 
lisk which had been erected on the Common in honor of 
the occasion was illuminated with two hundred and eighty 
lamps, and displayed upon its top a revolving wheel of fire, 
as the crowning triumph of pyrotechny. The Hancock 
House was a blaze of light, and Province House was in 
its vice-regal glory. 

But though the Stamp Act was repealed, the British 
Government continued to tax the colonies, and the sudden 
sunshine of joy soon was overcast, and the storm gathered 
again. 

The article upon which the Crown made the most per- 
sistent attempt to raise a revenue was tea. The tax was a 
small matter, of itself; but if the right to tax one article 
was admitted, the right to tax all articles was acknowledged. 

As the excise officers of Great Britain held control of 
the ports, and in some cities were supported by soldiery, 
no tea could be obtained without paying the tax. The 
people therefore resolved that they would neither use, sell, 
nor buy an ounce of tea upon which this unjust tax had 
been paid. 

In February, 1770, the mistresses of three hundred fam- 
ilies in Boston signed their names to a league, by which 
they bound themselves not to drink any tea until the ob- 
noxious revenue act was repealed. 

Of course the young ladies were as ready to deny them- 
selves the use of this fashionable beverage as were their 



234 Voting Folks' History of America. 

mothers ; and only a few days later a great multitude of 
misses, pretty and patriotic, signed a document headed 
with these words : — 

'' We, the daughters of those patriots who have and do 
now appear for the public interest, and in that principally 
regard their posterity, — as such do with pleasure engage 
with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, 
in hopes to frustrate the plan which tends to deprive a 
whole community of all that is valuable in life." 

Yet in Boston were five traders who refused to be con- 
trolled by the non-importation agreements of their fellow- 
countrymen, but continued to import and sell taxed tea. 

Among them was one Theophilus Lillie. 

The patriotic spirit was shared by the boys as well as by 
the misses. On the 22d of February, 1770, "some boys 
and children," says an old record, "set up a large wooden 
head, with a board faced with paper, on which were painted 
the figures of four of the importers who had violated the 
merchants' agreement, in the middle of the street, before 
Theophilus Lillie's door." 

The figure was so placed that its dexter finger pointed 
at Lillie's store. The merchant must have been greatly 
annoyed. One of his friends, an officer of the king, termed 
an "informer," soon saw the figure ; and he, too, was quite 
in a rage. 

Seeing a farmer passing in the street, he tried to per- 
suade him to drive his cart against the image, but the 
shrewd old patriot was too well pleased with its purpose to 
meddle with it. A man with a charcoal-cart was next im- 
portuned to break down this effigy, but he, too, refused. 

A crowd of people soon gathered at the point, and the 
informer, seeing that they were becoming incensed at his 
attempts to destroy the image, retreated in great vexation 
to his own house, followed by numerous men and boys. 



1766. The Gerinmi Boys Funeral. 235 

On the way he cried, " Perjury ! perjury ! " in a signifi- 
cant manner to several citizens whom he passed, meaning 
that they violated their oaths to support the Crown. Such 
insulting address produced vituperation in return. 

Some of the boys, excited by the violent language, very 
wrongly threw sticks, stones, and other missiles at the 
informer, until he shut himself up in his house. 

Enraged beyond the control of prudence, he was not 
satisfied with personal safety, but foolishly determined to 
be revenged. He came to the window with a gun,, and 
without waiting for the people to go away, discharged it, 
point blank, into the crowd. 

Two boys were hit, one being wounded slightly, the 
other mortally. 

Little Christopher Snyder, a German boy, eleven years 
of age, was in this crowd. He had lingered to laugh at 
the image, and when the informer retired, he followed 
with the rest to see what might happen. 

He was struck by one of the random shots, and was mor- 
tally wounded. Yet we have no evidence that he took any 
part in the disturbance other than being present and look- 
ing on. 

The funeral of the lad was made the occasion of a great 
popular demonstration, in marked contrast with that which, 
had followed the reception of the news of the repeal of the 
Stamp Act. 

The colonists were accustomed to hold nearly all patri- 
otic assemblies under that giant relic of the old-time forests 
called the Liberty Tree. 

Here, after the passage of the Stamp Act, Lord Bute and 
other obnoxious statesmen had been hung in effigy. Here 
the patriots consulted when the British troops in their gay 
uniforms came marching into the town, and held it by the 
glitter of the bayonet in the streets. 



236 Young Folks History of America. 

It was here that the principal ceremonies of young Sny- 
der's funeral were appointed to take place. 

It was the 26th of February. The religious services of 
the funeral were said at the house of Madame Apthorp on 
Frog Lane, as the boy Snyder was in the service of Ma- 
dame Apthorp at the time of his death. 

The corpse was then taken to the Liberty Tree, amid 
tolling bells, where the immense procession began. Fifty 
school-boys led, and were followed by about two thousand 
citizens. The pall was supported by six boys ; the coffin 
bore a Latin inscription, "Innocence itself is not safe." 
Business was suspended. The whole population of the 
town was in the streets, and the bells of the neighboring 
towns were heard echoing the solemn funeral bells of 
Boston. 



.■v&®"^ 







OLD HANCOCK HOUSE, BOSTON. 



CHAPTER XL 



BUNKER HILL AND THE SIEGE OF BOSTON. 



The city of Boston is full of the monuments of an heroic 
past. The stranger who visits it is surprised to note how 
strong patriotic sentiment has preserved the relics of the 
old colonial city amid the merchant palaces of the present 
time. The Old 
South Church, in 
which the duty of 
resistance to the 
tyranny of the 
British Crown was 
once so perilously 
proclaimed, still 
stands in the busi- 
est centre of trade. 
Faneuil Hall, the 
old Cradle of Lib- 
erty, where the 
colonial delegates 
united with the 
Virginia House 
of Burgesses in 

counselling armed protection of the provinces against a 
foreign power, still rises quaint and stately in the market 
place. Go where you will, in every part of the city the 
past lives again, and reads to the present its lessons. 




fAneuil hall. 



238 Young Folks History of America. 

Go to the State House, and examine its relics and mon- 
uments, and then make a circuit around it in the old-time 
streets. 

The beacon light in colonial times was situated on the 
high ground not far distant from the spot now crowned by 
the gilded dome of the State House ; and hence this point 
of land was called Beacon Hill 

The old Hancock House, now removed, stood here on 
Beacon Street, and the land now occupied by the State 
House was formerly a part of Governor Hancock's cow- 
pasture, and was purchased by the town from the Gover- 
nor's heirs for the State. The Hancock House, a fine old 
colonial structure, stood somewhat back from the street, 
on the ground now occupied by the elegant mansion of the 
late Gardner Brewer. 

We cannot give place to a description of the familiar 
marbles in Doric Hall in the State House, which are asso- 
ciated with recent history, — the statue of Governor An- 
drew, the busts of Adams and Lincoln, and Milmore's 
incomparable bust of Sumner. We may mention, incident- 
ally, that the corner-stone of the State House was laid in 
1795, with a speech from Governor Samuel Adams. The 
most interesting objects to the antiquary in the State 
House are the fine statue of Washington by Chantrey, 
and copies of the memorial inscriptions of the Washington 
family in Brighton Parish, England. These are in a some- 
what shadowy recess, which is separated from Doric Hall 
by a glass protector. In the Doric Hall stairway to the 
rotunda are four tablets taken from the base of a column 
completed on Beacon Hill in 1791. The Senate Chamber 
contains old-time relics and portraits, and the ancient cod- 
fish hangs from the filing in the House of Representatives, 
an emblem of the early industry of the State. 

Passing down Beacon to Tremont Street, in the direc- 




ANDROS A PRISONER IN BOSTON. 



1754. 



Kings Chapel. 



241 



tion of the Tremont House, the visitor will easily recognize 
the quaint old stone King's Chapel, and will wish to cross 
Tremont Street, to take a look at King's Chapel burying- 
ground. 

The Chapel itself is rich with antiquities. The original 
communion service was presented by William and Mary, 
and the old organ was 
selected for it by Handel, 
after that maestro had 
become blind. Its walls 
are lined with monuments. 

The burying-ground is 
a picturesque spot. The 
Boston branch of the 
Winslow family rest here. 
Here sleeps also the fa- 
mous Mary Chilson, of 
honorable memory, who 
has been said to be the 
first to leap on shore from 
the Mayflower. She died 
in 1679. Here sleep 
Governor John Leverett 
(1679), Governor John 
Winthrop (1649), Governor John Winthrop, Jr. (1676), 
Elder Thomas Oliver (1658), and the celebrated John 
Cotton and John Davenport. The remains of Lady Anne 
Andros, wife of the unpopular governor of that name, 
whom the colonists deposed and imprisoned on account of 
the tax he levied upon them, were deposited here on a dull, 
cloudy day in the early part of 1689. 

A few steps from King's Chapel, on the opposite side of 
the street, between the Tremont House and Park Street 
Church, the visitor will find the old Granary Burying- 

16 




QUEEN MARY. 



242 Voting Folks History of America. 

ground, first used about 1660, where rests Boston's vener- 
ated dust. The trees interweave their branches above 
the tombs, and only pencil-rays of sunlight break the 
broad, cool shadows of the spot. The Paddock elms used 
to keep guard over it in front. Within the enclosure are 
the remains of Governor Hancock, the Franklin family. 
Governors Bowdoin, Adams, Sumner, and Sullivan ; Robert 
Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, Peter Faneuil of revered memory, Thomas 
Prince, Hon. John Phillips, the first mayor of the city, Rev- 
erend Doctors Belknap, Lothrop, Eckley, Stillman, and 
Baldwin, and, last but not least of a long list of historic 
notables, Paul Revere. The victims of the Boston Mas- 
sacre on the ever-memorable 5th of March were buried 
here. The gravestone of Peter Daille, a French Huguenot 
minister of blessed memory, is still seen. Queer old Gov- 
ernor Bellingham, who at an advanced age " married him- 
self" to a young wife, "contrary to the practice of the 
Province," was buried here in 1672. 

Going around to Salem Street, we come to Christ Church 
and Copp's Hill Burying-ground. From the steeple of this 
church the signal light was hung for Paul Revere. The 
old pulpit was furnished with Bible and prayer-book by 
George H. Pitcairn was interred in the vaults of the 
church, and it is said his remains are still there, and that 
the wrong body was sent by mistake to Westminster Ab- 
bey. The chime of bells in the steeple was hung in 1744. 
These bells rang through the palmy days of the English 
Georges ; they were Revolutionary tones, and they have 
played through all the republic's years of prosperity and 
peace. The city has stretched far beyond the limits of 
their sound. In Copp's Hill Burying-ground, near at 
hand, rest the remains of the Mather family. It was 
from this hill that Clinton and Burgoyne directed the 




THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 



1775- Beginning of the War. 245 

battery that set fire to Charlestown at the Battle of Bunker 
Hill. 

Among the notable relics outside of Boston, and in its 
immediate vicinity, may be named the old Cradock man- 
sion in Medford, the old Powder House in Somerville, and 
the Craigie House in Cambridge, better known as the resi- 
dence of Longfellow, the poet, and as Washington's head- 
quarters. 

Let us now turn from our peaceful walk amid historic 
associations to the stirring scenes of the war. 

The encounters at Lexington and Concord thoroughly 
aroused the American people. The news rang through 
the land that blood had been spilt, that already there 
were martyrs to the great cause. Mounted couriers gal- 
loped along all highways. Over the bustle of the market- 
place, in the stillness of the quiet village church, there 
broke the startling shout, "The war has begun." All men 
felt that the hour had come, and they promptly laid aside 
their accustomed labor that they might gird themselves for 
the battle. North Carolina, in her haste, threw off the 
authority of the king, and formed herself into military 
companies. Georgia sent gifts of money and of rice, and 
cheering letters, to confirm the bold purposes of the men 
of Boston. In aristocratic and loyal Virginia there was a 
general rush to arms. From every corner of the New 
England States men hurried to Boston. 

Down in pleasant Connecticut an old man was ploughing 
his field one April afternoon. His name was Israel Put- 
nam. He was now a farmer and tavern-keeper, — a com- 
bination frequent at that time in New England, and not at 
all inconsistent, we are told, " with a Roman character." 
Formerly he had been a warrior. He had fought the 
Indians, and had narrowly escaped the jeopardies of such 
warfare. Once he had been bound to a tree, and the 



246 Young Folks History of America. 

savages were beginning to toss their tomahawks at his 
head, when unlooked-for rescue found him. As rugged 
old Israel ploughed his field, some one told him of the fight 
at Lexington. That day he ploughed no more. He sent 
word home that he had gone to Boston. Unyoking his 
horse from the plough, in a few minutes he was mounted 
and hastening towards the cr.mp. 

Boston and its suburbs stand on certain islets and penin- 
sulas, access to which, from the mainland, is gained by 
one isthmus which is called Boston Neck, and another 
isthmus which is called Charlestown Neck. A city thus 
circumstanced is not difficult to blockade. The American 
yeomanry blockaded Boston. There were five thousand 
soldiers in the town ; but the retreat from Concord inclined 
General Gage to some measure of patient endurance, and 
he made no attempt to raise the blockade. 

The month of May was wearing on. Still General Gage 
lay inactive. Still patriot Americans poured in to the 
blockading camp. They were utterly undisciplined. They 
were without uniform. The English scorned them as a 
rabble "with calico frocks and fowling-pieces." But they 
were Anglo-Saxons, with arms in their hands and a fixed 
purpose in their minds. It was very likely that the unwise 
contempt of their enemies would not be long unrebuked. 

At this time an event took place in an unexpected quar- 
ter, which fired the spirit of the colonists from Rhode Island 
to Georgia. 

THE STORY OF TICONDEROGA AND ETHAN ALLEN. 

In the early days of the Revolution the American pa- 
triots gained many important advantages by their boldness, 
almost amounting to audacity, in attacking forts and gar- 
risons unexpectedly. One of the most successful and 




THE OLD POWDER-HOUSE AT SOMERVILLE. 



1775- Ticonderoga and Ethan Allen. 249 

romantic enterprises of this kind was the capture of 
Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain 
Boys. The event took place on the loth of May, 1775, 
three weeks and one day after the great day at Concord 
and Lexington. 

Very soon after the first blood was shed, leading men 
felt that it was highly necessary to obtain the control of 
Lake Champlain, and get possession of the valuable mili- 
tary stores at Fort Ticonderoga. Plans were laid simul- 
taneously in the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut 
by different parties to effect this. The projectors of these 
plans were neither of them aware that the other was mov- 
ing in the matter. Massachusetts gave Benedict Arnold 
a commission as colonel. He was ordered to raise four 
hundred men to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
Connecticut lent eighteen hundred dollars to the leaders 
in the enterprise from that colony, and a quantity of am- 
munition was purchased, which, however, was not used for 
the purpose for which it was intended. 

The Connecticut patriots were first at work. They went 
to Bennington, Vermont, and offered the command to 
Ethan Allen, who immediately accepted it. Allen was a 
very brave and daring man, though rough and uneducated. 
He had already made himself conspicuous by his bold re- 
sistance to the government of New York, which attempted 
to exercise its control over that part of the country where 
he lived. He was exactly the man for the times and the 
work. 

While the recruits were assembling at Castleton, which 
was made the head-quarters of the expedition, Arnold 
appeared there with his Massachusetts commission. He 
v^'as allowed to join the party, but Ethan Allen was 
immediately made a colonel and put in supreme com- 
mand. 



250 Young Folks History of America, 

The first step made was to learn the condition of the 
fort. For this duty Captain Noah Phelps, of Connecticut, 
volunteered. He dressed himself like a Vermont farmer, 
and went to the fort to get shaved! He pretended that he 
thought there was a barber there. Once inside, by putting 
on an awkward and simple manner, he contrived to get 
the information he wanted, and with it he returned to the 
camp. 

On the evening of the 9th of May, the whole force of 
two hundred and seventy men arrived at Orwell, opposite 
Ticonderoga. There was much difficulty in getting boats 
to convey the men across, and many stratagems were re- 
sorted to. Two young men managed to get the use of one 
large boat by a trick. They took their guns and a jug of 
rum, and hailed a boat belonging to a British major who 
was stationed in the neighborhood. It was in charge of a 
colored man, whom they knew to be very fond of liquor. 
They told him they wanted to join a hunting party on the 
other side, and offered to help row. The man fell into the 
trap. As soon as he reached the shore he was made a 
prisoner and his boat was seized. 

Only eighty-three men could cross in the boat at once. 
Both Allen and Arnold accompanied the party. When they 
arrived near the fort it was so near morning that Allen did 
not dare to wait for the rest of his force, but determined to 
undertake the capture of the fort at once. Then occurred 
a dispute between the two colonels. Each insisted on his 
right to lead the men. It was at last settled that they should 
walk side by side, but. Allen on the right as commander. 

A young lad named Nathan Beman undertook to guide 
the " rebels " into the fort. When the men approached the 
outer gate, the sentinel or guard snapped his lock and 
retreated. The Americans followed him closely along the 
covered way. Before he could give an alarm they were 




GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM. 



1775- Ticonderoga and Ethan Allen, 253 

drawn up on the parade ground inside the fort and in pos- 
session of it. Then the Green Mountain Boys gave three 
cheers in honor of their bloodless victorv. 

The officers were asleep in their apartments. A fright- 
ened soldier pointed out the door of the commanding 
ofifiicer to Colonel Allen, who called out, " Come forth 
instantly, or I will sacrifice the whole garrison." At this, 
Captain Delaplace, who had not had time to dress, made 
his appearance, with his breeches in his hand. 

"Deliver this fort instantly," said Allen sternly. 

"By what authority? " asked Captain Delaplace. 

"In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
Congress," replied Colonel Allen. 

The captain would have said more, but Allen held his 
drawn sword near Delaplace's head, and the latter pru- 
dently determined to surrender. Accordingly he gave 
orders that the garrison should be paraded without arms. 

Thus, before the commander of the fort had learned that 
the war had begun, he and his entire command of about 
fifty men were made prisoners. The Americans also se- 
cured more than two hundred pieces of cannon, with a 
very large quantity of other arms, an immense amount 
of ammunition, and other property, all without losing a 
man. 

The volunteers immediately proceeded to take Crown 
Point, where they were quite as successful, and then sur- 
prised and captured an armed sloop on the lake. This 
gave them complete control of Lake Champlain and its 
forts, which was a great advantage to the colonists. The 
Continental Congress, whose name Allen invoked, disap- 
proved of the whole proceeding, but subsequent events 
showed how much wdser were the daring spirits who 
conceived it, and carried it into execution, than the more 
prudent and timid statesmen of the day. 



254 Young Folks History of America, 

On the 25th of May several English ships-of-war dropped 
their anchors in Boston Harbor. It was rumored that they 
brought large reinforcements under Howe, Burgoyne, and 
Clinton, — the best generals England possessed. Shortly 
it became known that Gage now felt himself strong enough 
to break out upon his rustic besiegers. But the choice of 
time and place for the encounter was not to be left with 
General Gage. 

On Charlestown peninsula, within easy gun-shot of Bos- 
ton, there are two low hills, one of which, the higher, is 
called Bunker Hill, and the other, Breed's Hill. In a coun- 
cil of war the Americans determined to seize and fortify 
one of these heights, and there abide the onslaught of the 
English. There was not a moment to lose. It was said 
that Gage intended to occupy the heights on the night of 
the 1 8th of June. But Gage was habitually too late. On 
the 1 6th, a little before sunset, twelve hundred Americans 
were mustered on Cambridge Common for special service. 
Colonel Prescott, a veteran who had fought against the 
French, was in command. Putnam was with him, to be 
useful where he could, although without specified duties. 
Prayers were said ; and the men, knowing only that they 
went to battle, and perhaps to death, set forth upon their 
march. They marched in silence, for their way led them 
under the guns of English ships. "They reached the hill- 
top undiscovered by the supine foe. It was a lovely June 
night, warm and still. Far down lay the English ships, 
awful, but as yet harmless. Across the Charles River, Bos- 
ton and her garrison slept the sleep of the unsuspecting. 
The " All's well ! " of the sentinel crept, from time to time, 
dreamily up the hill. Swift now with spade and mattock, 
for the hours of this midsummer night are few and 
precious, — swift, but cautious, too, for one ringing stroke 
of iron upon stone may ruin all ! 




ENGLISH SHIPS-OF-WAR. 



1775- 1^^^^ Battle of Bunker Hill, 257 

When General Gage looked out upon the heights next 
morning,' he saw a strong intrenchment and swarms of 
armed men where the untrodden grass had waved in the 
summer breeze a few hours before. He looked long 
through his glass at this unwelcome apparition. A tall 
figure paced to and fro along the rude parapet. It was 
Prescott. 

" Will he fight ? " asked Gage eagerly. 

"Yes, sir," replied a bystander, "to the last drop of his 
blood." 

It was indispensable that the works should be taken. A 
plan of attack was immediately formed. It was sufficiently 
simple. No one supposed that the Americans would stand 
the shock of regular troops. The English were therefore 
to march straight up the hill and drive the Americans 
away. Meanwhile reinforcements were sent to the Ameri- 
cans, and supplies of ammunition were distributed. A gill 
of powder, to be carried in a powder-horn or loose in the 
pocket, two flints, and fifteen balls were served out to each 
man. To obtain even the fifteen balls, they had to melt 
down the organ-pipes of an Episcopal church at Cambridge. 

At noon English soldiers to the number of two thousand 
crossed over from Boston. The men on the hill-top looked 
out from their intrenchments upon a splendid vision of 
bright uniforms and bayonets and field-pieces flashing in 
the sun. They looked with quickened pulse but unshaken 
purpose. To men of their race it is not given to know fear 
on the verge of battle. 

The English soldiers paused for refreshments when they 
landed on the Charlestown peninsula. The Americans 
could hear the murmur of their noisy talk and laughter. 
They saw the pitchers of grog pass along the ranks. And 
then they saw the Englishmen rise and stretch themselves 
to their grim morning's work. From the steeples and 

17 



258 Young Folks' History of America, 

house-tops of Boston, from all the heights which stand 
round about the city, thousands of Americans watched 
the progress of the fight. 

The soldiers had no easy task before them. The day 
was "exceeding hot," the grass was long and thick, the up- 
hill march was toilsome, the enemy watchful and resolute. 
As if to render the difficulty greater, the men carried three 
days' provision with them in their knapsacks. Each man 
had a burden which weighed one hundred and twenty 
pounds in knapsack, musket, and Other equipments. Thus 
laden, they began their perilous ascent. 

While yet a long way from the enemy they opened a 
harmless fire of musketry. There was no reply from the 
American lines. 

" Aim low," said Putnam, '' and wait until you see the 
whites of their eyes." 

The Englishmen were very near the works when the 
word was given. Like the left-handed slingers of the tribe 
of Benjamin, the Americans could shoot to a hair's-breadth. 
Every man took his steady aim, and when they gave forth 
their volley few bullets sped in vain. The slaughter was 
enormous. The English recoiled in some confusion, a piti- 
less rain of bullets following them dpwn the hill. Again they 
advanced almost to the American works, and again 
they sustained a bloody repulse. And now, at the hill- 
foot, they laid down their knapsacks and stripped off their 
great-coats. They were resolute this time to end the fight 
by the bayonet. The American ammunition was exhausted. 
They could give the enemy only a single volley. . The 
English swarmed over the parapet. The Americans had 
no bayonets, but for a time they waged unequal war with 
stones and the but-ends of their muskets. They were soon 
driven out, and fled down the hill and across the Neck to 
Cambridge, the English ships raking them with grape-shot 
as they ran. 



1775- 



The Battle of Bunker Hill. 



261 



They had done their work. Victory no doubt remained 
with the English. Their object was to carry the Amer- 
ican intrenchments, and they had carried them. Far 
greater than this was the gain of the Americans. It was 
proved that, with the help of some slight field-works, it 
was possible for 
undisciplined pa- 
triots to meet on 
equal terms the 
best troops Eng- 
land could send 
against them. 
Henceforth the 
success of the 
Revolution was 
assured. "Thank 
God! "said Wash- 



ington, when he 
heard of the bat- 
tle. " The liber- 
ties of the coun- 
try are safe." 
Would that obsti- 
nate King George 
could have been 
made to see it ! 
But many wives must be widows, and many children father- 
less, before those dull eyes will open to the unwelcome 
truth. 

Sixteen hundred men lay, dead or wounded, on that fatal 
slope. The English had lost nearly eleven hundred ; the 
Americans nearly five hundred. Seldom indeed in any 
battle has so large a proportion of the combatants fallen. 

The Americans, who had thus taken up arms and re- 




BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 



262 



Young Folks' History of America, 



sisted and slain the king's troops, were wholly without 
authority for what they had done. No governing body of 
any description had employed them or recognized them. 
What were still rriore alarming deficiencies, they were with- 
out a general, and without adequate supply of food and 
ammunition. Congress now, by a unanimous vote, adopted 




THE WASHINGTON ELM. 



the army, and elected George Washington commander-in- 
chief of the patriot forces. They took measures to enlist 
soldiers, and to raise money for their support. 

Washington joined the army before Boston. He for- 
mally assumed command under a great elm in Cambridge, 
which is still standing (1881). The army consisted of 
about fourteen thousand men. They were almost without 



1775' Washington at Cambridge. 263 

ammunition. Their stock of powder would afford only 
nine rounds to each man. They could thus have made no 
use of their artillery. Their rude intrenchments stretched 
a distance of eight or nine miles. At any moment the 
English might burst upon them, piercing their weak lines, 
and rolling them back in hopeless rout. But the stubborn 
provincials were as yet scarcely soldiers enough to know 
their danger. Taking counsel only of their own courage, 
they strengthened their intrenchment, and tenaciously main- 
tained their hold on Boston. 

The head-quarters of Washington at Cambridge were near 
the present site of Harvard College. It is known as the 
Craigie House, and is the home of the poet Longfellow. 

Washington looked at his foe. He saw a British army 
of ten thousand men, perfect in discipline and equipment. 
It was a noble engine, but, happily for the world, it was 
guided by incompetent hands. General Gage tamely en- 
dured siege without daring to strike a single blow at the 
audacious patriots. It was no easy winter in either army. 
The English suffered from small-pox. Their fleet failed to 
secure for them an adequate supply of food. They had 
to pull down houses to obtain wood for fuel, at the risk of 
being hanged if they were discovered. They were dis- 
pirited by long inaction. They knew that in England the 
feeling entertained about them was one of bitter disappoint- 
ment. Gage was recalled by an angry Ministry, and 
quitted in disgrace that Boston where he had hoped for 
such success. General Howe succeeded to his command 
and to his policy of inactivity. 

Washington, on his side, was often in despair. His 
troops were mainly enlisted for three months only. Their 
love of country gave way under the hardships of a sol- 
dier's life. Washington was a strict disciplinarian. Patriot- 
ism proved a harder service than the men counted for. 



264 Young Folks'* History of America. 

Fast as their time of service expired, many set their faces 
homeward. Washington plied them with patriotic appeals, 
and caused patriot songs to be sung about the camp. 
"Such dearth of public spirit," Washington writes, "and 
such want of virtue, such fertility in all the low arts, I 
never saw before." When January came he had a new 
army, much smaller than the old, and the same weary 
process of drilling began afresh. He knew that Howe was 
aware of his position. The inactivity of the English gen- 
eral astonished Washington. He could explain it no other- 
wise than by believing that Providence watched over the 
liberties of the American people. 

In February liberal supplies of arms and ammunition 
reached him. There came also ten regiments of militia. 
Washington was now strong enough to take a step. 

To the south of Boston lie the heights of Dorchester. 
If the Americans could seize and hold these heights, the 
English would be compelled to leave Boston. The night of 
the 4th of March was fixed for the enterprise. A heavy fire 
of artillery occupied the attention of the enemy. By the light 
of an unclouded moon a strong working-party took their 
way to Dorchester Heights. A long train of wagons accom- 
panied them, laden with hard-pressed bales of hay. These 
were needed to form a breastwork, as a hard frost bound 
the earth, and digging alone could not be relied upon. 
The men worked with such spirit that by dawn the bales 
of hay had been fashioned into various redoubts and 
other defences of most formidable aspect. A thick fog lay 
along the heights, and the new fortress looked massive 
and imposing in the haze. "The rebels," said Howe, 
" have done more work in one night than my whole army 
would have done in a month." 

And now the English must fight or yield up Boston. 
The English chose to fight. They were in the act of em- 



1 775- ^ Story of the Siege. 265 

barking to get at the enemy when a furious east wind began 
to blow, scattering their transports and compeUing the 
delay of the attack. All next day the storm continued to 
rage. The English, eager for battle, lay in unwilling idle- 
ness. The vigorous Americans never ceased to dig and 
build. On the third day the storm abated. But it was 
now General Howe's opinion that the American position 
was impregnable. It may be that he was wisely cautious. 
It may be that he was merely fearful. But he laid aside 
his thoughts of battle, and prepared to evacuate Boston. 
On the 17th the last English soldier was on board, and all 
New England was finally wrested from King George. 

A STORY OF THE SIEGE. 

A curious song, called " Yankee Doodle," was written 
by a British sergeant at Boston, in 1775, to ridicule the 
rude ways of certain people there, when the American 
army, under Washington, was encamped at Cambridge 
and Roxbury. Many of the volunteers from the country 
towns were ungainly and awkward in appearance, and 
showed a quaint inquisitiveness that provoked satire. The 
air of " Yankee Doodle," with quaint words about " Lucy 
Locket " who lost " her pocket," was known in Cromwell's 
time. It was at one time called " Chevy Chase," and it well 
fits this old Scottish ballad. The word Ymikee was evi- 
dently borrowed from the provincial vocabulary of a Cam- 
bridge farmer, named Jonathan Hastings, who lived about 
the year 17 13, and who was accustomed to speak of his 
" Yafikee good horse," his " Yankee good cider." The 
Harvard students used to call him Yankee Jonathan. 

There is a story associated with this song which is at 
once amusing and pathetic. When Lord Percy marched 
out of Boston, for Lexington, he passed through Roxbury, 
his band playing " Yankee Doodle " in derision. It was 



266 Young Folks History of America. 

a suggestive tune, as it was often employed as a Rogues' 
March when offenders were drummed out of camp. 

A Roxbury boy grew very merry as he heard the tune, 
while the soldiers were passing by. 

"What makes you so lively, my lad?" asked Lord 
Percy. 

" To think how you will dance by and by to ' Chevy 
Chase.'" 

As Earl Percy in the ballad of "Chevy Chase" was 
slain. Lord Percy was made despondent by the unexpected 
prophecy of the boy. Percy was driven back from Lexing- 
ton in disgrace, and " Yankee Doodle " was played by the 
victorious Americans when Burgoyne surrendered. 

Perhaps the reader may like to see the original version 
of " Yankee Doodle," with its provincial dialect: — 

I. 

Father and I went down to camp 

Along with Captain Goodwin, 
Where we see the men and boys 

As thick as )\2&iy-puddin\ 

2. 

There was Captain Washington 

Upon a strapping stallion, 
A giving orders to his men ; 

I guess there was a million. 

3- 

And then the feathers on his hat, 

They looked so tcLYna\_fina, 
I wanted peskily to get, 

To give to my Jemima. 

4- 
And then they had a swampin gun 

As big as log of maple, 
On a deuced little cart, — 

A load for father's cattle. 



1775- ^^ Yankee Doodle'' 267 

5- 
And every time they iired it off 

It took a horn of powder ; 
It made a noise like father's gun, 

Only a nation louder. 

6. 
I went as near to it myself 

As Jacob's under-pinnin', 
And father went as near again, — 

I thought the deuce was in him. 

7- 
Cousin Simon grew so bold, 

I thought he would have cocked it ; 
It scared me so I shrinked off 

And hung by father's pocket. 



And Captain Davis had a gun, 
He kind a clapped his hand on't. 

And stuck a crooked stabbing iron 
Upon the little end on't. 

9- 
And there I see a pumpkin shell 

As big as mother's basin. 
And every time they touched it off 

They scampered like the nation. 

10. 
And there I see a little keg, 

Its head was made of leather ; 
They knocked upon't with little sticks 

To call the folks together. 

II. 
And then they'd yf^ away like fun 

And play on cornstalk fiddles. 
And some had ribbons red as blood 

All wound around their middles. 



268 Young Folks' History of America. 



12. 

The troopers, too, would gallop up, 
And fire right in our faces ; 

It scared me almost half to death 
To see them run such races. 

13- 
Old Uncle Sam came there to change 

Some pancakes and some onions 
For 'lasses cakes, to carry home 

To give to his wife and young ones. 

14. 
I see another S7ta}-1 of men 

A diggin' graves, they told me, — 
So tarnal long, so tarnal deep. 

They 'tended they should hold me. 

15- 
They scared me so, I hooked it off, 

Nor slept, as I remember, 
Nor turned about till I got home. 

Locked up in mother's chamber. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

Even yet, after months of fighting, the idea of final sep- 
aration from Great Britain was distasteful to a considerable 
portion of the American people. To the more enlightened 
it had long been evident that no other course was possible ; 
but very many still clung to the hope of a friendly settlement 
of differences. Some, who were native Englishmen, loved 
the land of their birth better than the land of their adoption. 
The Quakers and Moravians were opposed to war as sinful, 
and would content themselves with such redress as could be 
obtained by remonstrance. Some, who deeply resented the 
oppressions of the home government, were slow to relinquish 
the privilege of British citizenship. Some would willingly 
have fought had there been hope of success, but could not 
be convinced that America was able to defend herself against 
the colossal strength of England. The subject was discussed 
long and keenly. 

The intelligence of America was in favor of separation. 
All the writers of the colonies urged incessantly that to this 
it must come. Pamphlets and gazette articles set forth the 
oppressions of the old country, and the need of independence 
in order to the welfare of the colonies. Conspicuous among 
those whose writings aided in convincing the public mind 
stands the unhonored name of Thomas Paine, the infidel. 
Paine had been only a few months in the colonies, but his 
restless mind took a ready interest in the great question of 



2^0 Young Folks History of America. 

the day. He had a surprising power of direct, forcible argu- 
ment. He wrote a pamphlet styled " Common Sense," in 
which he urged the Americans to be independent. 

The time was now ripe for the consideration by the Con- 
gress at Philadelphia of the great question of independence. 
It was a grave and most eventful step, which no thinking man 
would lightly take, but it could no longer be shunned. On 
the yth of June a resolution was introduced, declaring " That 
the United Colonies are and ought to be free and indepen- 
dent." The House was not yet prepared for a measure so 
decisive. Many members still paused on the threshold of 
that vast change. Pennsylvania and Delaware had expressly 
enjoined their delegates to oppose it ; for the Quakers were 
loyal to the last. Some other States had given no instruc- 
tions, and their delegates felt themselves bound, in conse- 
quence, to vote against the change. Seven States voted for 
the resolution ; six voted against it. Greater unanimity than 
this was indispensable. With much prudence, it was agreed 
that the matter should stand over for two or three weeks. 

On the 4th of July, 1776, a Declaration of Independence 
was adopted, with the unanimous concurrence of all the 
thirteen States. In this famous document the usurpations of 
the English government were set forth in unsparing terms. 
The divinity which doth hedge a king did not protect poor 
King George from a rougher handhng than he ever experi- 
enced before. His character, it was said, " was marked by 
every act which can define a tyrant." And then it was an- 
nounced to the world that the Thirteen Colonies had termi- 
nated their political connection with Great Britain, and 
entered upon their career as free and independent States. 

The vigorous action of Congress nerved the colonists for 
their great enterprise of defence. The paralyzing hope of 
reconciliation was extinguished. The quarrel must now be 
fought out to the end, and liberty must be gloriously won or 




£ i\Qmhi 



— - -9>v^^i^V^^^= 



GEORGE III. 



1776. 



The Declaration of Independence. 



273 



shamefully lost. Everywhere the Declaration was hailed with 
joy. It was read to the army amidst exulting shouts. The 
soldiers in New York expressed their transferrence of alle- 
giance by taking down a leaden statue of King George and 
casting it into bullets to be used against the king's troops. 
Next day Washington, in the dignified language which was 
habitual to him, reminded his troops of their new duties and 
responsibilities. " The General," he said, "hopes and trusts 
that every officer and soldier will endeavor so to live and act 
as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights 
and liberties of his country." 




L^QXAH.S/0 



Six ^OttmKt 

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SIX SPANISH MILLED 
DOLLARS, or the 
'Sfa^^uA thereof im. GOLD 
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a Resolution of cOn^ 
GRESS pahmicct Fhi' 
ladelpUaNav'f!,- \J^Q' 



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CHAPTER XIII. 

THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 

England put forth as much strength as she deemed need- 
ful to subdue her rebellious colonists. She prepared a strong 
fleet and a strong army. She entered into contracts with 
some of the petty German princes to supply a certain 
number of soldiers. These were chiefly Hessians. It was 
a matter of regular sale and purchase. England supplied 
money at a fixed rate. The Duke of Brunswick and some 
others supplied a stipulated number of men, who were to 
shed their blood in a quarrel of which they knew nothing. 
Even in a dark age these transactions were a scandal. Fred- 
erick of Prussia loudly expressed his contempt for both 
parties. When any of the hired men passed through any 
part of his territory he levied on them the toll usually charged 
for cattle, — like which, he said, they had been sold ! 

So soon as the safety of Boston was secured, Washington 
moved with his army southward to New York. Thither, in 
the month of June, came General Howe. Thither also came 
his brother. Lord Howe, with the forces which England had 
provided for this war. These reinforcements raised the Brit- 
ish army to twenty-five thousand men. Lord Howe brought 
with him a commission from King George to pacify the dis- 
satisfied colonists. He invited them to lay down their arms, 
and he assured them of the king's pardon. His proposals 
were singularly inopportune. The Declaration of Indepen- 
dence had just been published. The Americans had deter- 



1776. The War for Independence. 275 

mined to be free. They were not seeking to be forgiven, and 
they rejected with scorn Lord Howe's proposals. The sword 
must now decide between King George and his alienated 
subjects. 

Lord Howe encamped his troops on Staten Island, a few 
miles from New York. His powerful fleet gave him undis- 
puted command of the bay, and enabled him to choose his 
point of attack. The Americans expected that he would 
land upon Long Island, and take possession of the heights 
near Brooklyn. He would then be separated from New 
York only by a narrow arm of the sea, and he could with ease 
lay the city in ruins. Washington sent a strong force to hold 
the heights, and throw up intrenchments in front of Brooklyn. 
General Putnam was appointed to the command of this army. 
Staten Island lies in full view of Brooklyn. The white tents 
of the English army, and the formidable English ships lying 
at their anchorage, were watched by many anxious eyes ; 
for the situation was known to be full of peril. Washington 
himself did not expect success in the coming fight, and hoped 
for nothing more than that the enemy's victory would cost 
him dear. 

After a time it was seen that a movement was in progress 
among the English. One by one the tents disappeared. 
One by one the ships shook their canvas out to the wind, 
and moved across the bay. Then the Americans knew that 
their hour of trial was at hand. 

Putnam marched his men out from their lines to meet the 
English. At daybreak the enemy made his appearance. 
The right wing of the American army was attacked, and 
troops were withdrawn from other points to resist what 
seemed the main attack. Meanwhile a strong English force 
made its way unseen round the American left, and estabHshed 
itself between the Americans and their intrenchments. This 
decided the fate of the battle. The Americans made a brave 



276 Young Folks History of America. 

but vain defence. They were driven within their lines after 
sustaining heavy loss. 

Lord Howe could easily have stormed the works, and taken 
or destroyed the American army. But his lordship felt that 
his enemy was in his power, and he wished to spare his soldiers 
the bloodshed which an assault would have caused. He was 
to reduce the enemy's works by regular siege. It was no 
part of Washington's intention to wait for the issue of these 
operations. During the night of August 29 he silently with- 
drew his broken troops, and landed them safely in New York. 
So skilfully was this movement executed, that the last boat 
had pushed off from the shore before the British discovered 
that their enemies had departed. 

But now New York had to be abandoned. Washington's 
army was demoralized by the defeat at Brooklyn. Washing- 
ton confessed to the President of Congress with deep concern 
that he had no confidence " in the generality of the troops." 
To fight the well-disciplined and victorious British with such 
unskilful men seemed useless. He marched northward, and 
took up a strong position at Harlem, a village nine miles 
from New York. But the English ships, sweeping up the 
Hudson River, showed themselves on his flank and in his 
rear. The English army approached him in front. There 
was no choice but retreat. Washington crossed over to the 
Jersey side of the river. The English followed him, after 
storming a fort in which nearly three thousand men had been 
left, the whole of whom were made prisoners. 

The fortunes of the revolted colonies were now at the very 
lowest ebb. Washington had only four thousand men under 
his immediate command. They were in miserable condi- 
tion, — imperfectly armed, poorly fed and clothed, without 
blankets or tents or shoes. An English officer said of them, 
without extreme exaggeration, " In a whole regiment there is 
scarce one pair of breeches." This was the army which was 



1776. Washington Crossing the Delaware. 279 

to snatch a continent from the grasp of England ! As they 
marched towards Philadelphia the people looked with deri- 
sion upon their ragged defenders, and with fear upon the 
brilliant host of pursuers. Lord Howe renewed his offer of 
pardon to all who would submit. This time his lordship's 
offers commanded some attention. Many of the wealthier 
patriots took the oath, and made their peace with a gov- 
ernment whose authority there was no longer any hope of 
throwing off. 

Washington made good his retreat to Philadelphia, so hotly 
pursued that his rear-guard, engaged in pulling down bridges, 
were often in sight of the British pioneers sent to build them 
up. When he crossed the Delaware he secured all the boats 
for a distance of seventy miles along the river-course. Lord 
Howe was brought to a pause, and he decided to wait uppn 
the eastern bank till the river should be frozen. 

Washington knew well the desperate odds against him. He 
expected to be driven from the Eastern States. It was his 
thought, in that case, to retire beyond the Alleghanies, and in 
the wilderness to maintain undying resistance to the English 
yoke. Meantime he strove like a brave strong man to win 
back success to the patriot cause. It was only now that he 
was able to rid himself of the evil of short enlistments. Con- 
gress resolved that henceforth men should be enlisted to serve 
out the war. 

Winter came, but Lord Howe remained inactive. He 
himself was in New York; his army was scattered about 
among the villages of New Jersey, fearing no evil from the 
despised Americans. All the time Washington was increas- 
ing the number of his troops, and improving their condition. 
But something was needed to chase away the gloom which 
paralyzed the country. Ten miles from Philadelphia was the 
village of Trenton, held by a considerable force of British 
and Hessians. At sunset on Christmas evening Washington 



28o Young Folks' History of America. 

marched out from Philadelphia, having prepared a surprise 
for the careless garrison of Trenton. The night was dark 
and tempestuous, and the weather was so intensely cold that 
two of the soldiers were frozen to death. The march of the 
barefooted host could be tracked by the blood-marks which 
they left upon the snow. At daybreak they burst upon the 
astonished Royalists. The Hessians had drunk deep on the 
previous day, and they were ill prepared to fight. Their 
commander was slain as he attempted to bring his men up to 
the enemy. After his fall the soldiers laid down their arms, 
and surrendered at discretion. 

A week after this encounter three British regiments spent 
a night at Princeton, on their way to Trenton to retrieve 
the disaster which had there befallen their Hessian allies. 
Washington made another night march, attacked the English- 
men in the early morning, and after a stubborn resistance 
defeated them, inflicting severe loss. 

These exploits, inconsiderable as they seem, raised incal- 
culably the spirits of the American people. When triumphs 
like these were possible under circumstances so discouraging, 
there was no need to despair of the commonwealth. Con- 
fidence in Washington had been somewhat shaken by the 
defeats which he had sustained. Henceforth it was un- 
bounded. Congress invested him with absolute mihtary 
authority for a period of six months, and public opinion 
confirmed the trust. The infant republic was delivered 
from its most imminent jeopardy by the successes of Trenton 
and Princeton. 

And now a new force entered into the hitherto unequal 
contest. France still felt, with all the bitterness of the van- 
quished, her defeat at Quebec and her loss of Canada. She 
had always entertained the hope that the Americans would 
avenge her by,..throwing off the English yoke. To help for- 
ward its fulfilment, she sent occasionally a secret agent among 



1777. 



Lafayette. 



281 



them, to cultivate their good-will to the utmost. When the 
troubles began she sent secret assurances of sympathy, and 
secret offers of commercial advantages. She was not pre- 
pared as yet openly to espouse the American cause. But it 
was always safe to encourage the American dislike to England, 




LAFAYETTE. 



and to connive at the fitting out of American privateers, to 
prey upon English commerce. 

The Marquis de Lafayette was at this time serving in the 
French army. He was a lad of nineteen, of immense wealth, 
and enjoying a foremost place among the nobility of France. 
The American revolt had now become a topic at French 



282 Young Folks' History <of America. 

dinner-tables. Lafayette heard of it first from the Duke of 
Gloucester, who told the story at a dinner given to him by 
some French officers. That conversation changed the destiny 
of the young Frenchman. " He was a man of no ability/' 
said Napoleon. " There is nothing in his head but the United 
States," said Marie Antoinette. Lafayette had the deepest 
sympathies with the cause of human liberty. They were 
always generous and true. No sooner had he satisfied him- 
self that the American cause was the cause of liberty, than he 
hastened to ally himself with it. He left his young wife and 
his great position, and he offered himself to Washington. His 
presence was a vast encouragement to a desponding people. 
He was a visible assurance of sympathy beyond the sea. 
America is the most grateful of nations ; and this good, im- 
pulsive man has ever deservedly held a high place in her 
love. Washington once, with tears of joy in his eyes, pre- 
sented Lafayette to his troops. Counties are named after 
him, and cities and streets. Statues and paintings hand down 
to successive generations of Americans the image of their 
first . and most faithful ally. 

Lafayette was the Hghtning-rod by which the current of 
republican sentiments was flashed from America to France. 
He came home when the war was over and America free. 
He was the hero of the hour. A man who had helped to set 
up a republic in America was an unquiet element for old 
France to receive back into her bosom. With the charm of 
a great name and boundless popularity to aid him, he every- 
where urged that men should be free and self-governing. 

The spring-time of 1777 came, — " the time when kings go 
out to battle," — but General Howe was not ready. Washing- 
ton was contented to wait, for he gained by delay. Congress 
sent him word that he was to lose no time in totally subduing 
the enemy. W^ashington could now afford to smile at the 
vain confidence which had so quickly taken the place of 



1777* Battle of Brandy wine. 283 

despair. Recruits flowed in upon him in a steady if not a 
very copious stream. The old soldiers whose terms expired 
were induced, by bounties and patriotic appeals, to re-enlist 
for the war. By the middle of June, when Howe opened the 
campaign, Washington had eight thousand men under his 
command, tolerably armed and disciplined, and in good fight- 
ing spirit. The patriotic sentiment was powerfully reinforced 
by a thirst to avenge private wrongs. Howe's German mer- 
cenaries had behaved very brutally in New Jersey, plunder- 
ing and burning without stint. Many of the Americans had 
witnessed outrages such as turn the coward's blood to flame. 

Howe wished to take Philadelphia, then the political capi- 
tal of the States. But Washington lay across his path, in a 
strong position, from which he could not be enticed to de- 
scend. Howe marched towards him, but shunned to attack 
him where he lay. Then he turned back to New York, and, 
embarking his troops, sailed with them to Philadelphia. The 
army was landed on the 25 th August, and Howe was at length 
ready to begin the summer's work. 

The American army waited for him on the banks of a small 
river called the Brandy wine. The British superiority in num- 
bers enabled them to attack the Americans in front and in 
flank. The Americans say that their right wing, on which 
the British attack fell with crushing weight, was badly led. 
One of the generals of that division was a certain William 
Alexander, known to himself and the country of his adop- 
tion as Lord Stirling, — a warrior brave but foolish, " aged, 
and a little deaf." The Americans were driven from the field, 
but they had fought bravely, and were undismayed by their 
defeat. 

A fortnight later a British force, with Lord Cornwallis at its 
head, marched into Philadelphia. The Royalists were nu- 
merous in that city of Quakers. The city was moved to 
unwonted cheerfulness. On that September morning, as the 



284 Young Folks History of America. 

loyal inhabitants looked upon the bright uniforms and flash- 
ing arms of the king's troops, and listened to the long-for- 
bidden strains of " God save the King," they felt as if a great 
and final deliverance had been vouchsafed to them. The 
patriots estimated the fall of the city more justly. It was 
seen that if Howe meant to hold Philadelphia, he had not 
force enough to do much else. Said the sagacious Benja- 
min Franklin, " It is not General Howe that has taken 
Philadelphia; it is Philadelphia that has taken General 
Howe." 

The main body of the British were encamped at German- 
town, guarding their new conquest. So little were the Ameri- 
cans daunted by their late reverses, that, within a week from 
the capture of Philadelphia, Washington resolved to attack 
the enemy. At sunrise on the 4th October the English were 
unexpectedly greeted by a bayonet-charge from a strong 
American force. It was a complete surprise, and at first the 
success was complete. But a dense fog, which had rendered 
the surprise possible, ultimately frustrated the purpose of the 
assailants. The onset of the eager Americans carried all 
before it. But as the darkness, enhanced by the firing, 
deepened over the combatants, confusion began to arise. 
Regiments got astray from their officers. Some regiments 
mistook each other for enemies, and acted on that belief. 
Confusion swelled to panic, and the Americans fled from the 
field. 

Winter was now at hand, and the British army returned to 
quarters in Philadelphia. Howe would have fought again, 
but Washington declined to come down from the strong posi- 
tion to which he had retired. His army had again been 
suffered to fall into straits which threatened its very exist- 
ence. A patriot Congress urged him to defeat the English, 
but could not be persuaded to supply his soldiers with shoes 
or blankets, or even with food. He was advised to fall back 




ENGLISH ATTACKED AT GERMANTOWN. 



1777- General Burgoyne at Saratoga. 287 

on some convenient town where his soldiers would find the 
comforts they needed so much. But Washington was reso- 
lute to keep near the enemy. He fixed on a position at Val- 
ley Forge, among the hills, twenty miles fi"om Philadelphia. 
Thither through the snow marched his half-naked army. 
Log- huts were erected with a rapidity of which no soldiers 
are so capable as Americans. There Washington fixed him- 
self. The enemy was within reach, and he knew that his 
own strength would grow. The campaign which had now 
closed l>ad given much encouragement to the patriots. It 
is true they had been often defeated. But they had learned 
to place implicit confidence in their commander. They 
had learned also that in courage they were equal, in activity 
greatly superior, to their enemies. All they required was dis- 
cipline and experience, which another campaign would give. 
There was no longer any reason to look with alarm upon the 
future. 

In the month of June, when Howe was beginning to make 
his slow advance to Philadelphia, a British army set out from 
Canada to conquer the northern parts of the revolted terri- 
tory. General Burgoyne was in command. He was resolute 
to succeed. "This army must not retreat," he said, when 
they were about to embark. The army did not retreat. On 
a fair field general and soldiers would have played a part of 
which their country would have had no cause to be ashamed. 
But this was a work beyond their strength. 

Burgoyne marched deep into the New England States. 
But he had to do with men of a different temper from those 
of New York and Philadelphia. At his approach every man 
took down his musket from the wall and hurried to the front. 
Little discipline had they, but a resolute purpose and a sure 
aim. Difficulties thickened around the fated army. At length 
Burgoyne found himself at Saratoga. It was now October. 
Heavy rains fell. Provisions were growing scanty. The- 



288 Young Folks' History of America. 

enemy was in great force, and much emboldened by suc- 
cess. Gradually it became evident that the British were sur- 
rounded, and that no hope of fighting their way out remained. 
Night and day a circle of fire encompassed them. Burgoyne 
called his officers together. They could find no place for 
their sorrowful communing beyond reach of the enemy's mus- 
ketry, so closely was the net already drawn. There was ^ut 
one thing to do, and it was done. The British army surren- 
dered. Nearly six thousand brave men in sorrow and in 
shame laid down their arms. The men who took them were 
mere peasants. No two of them were dressed alike. The 
officers wore uncouth wigs. Most of them carried muskets 
and large powder-horns slung around their shoulders. No 
humiliation like this had befallen the British arms. 

These grotesque American warriors behaved to their con- 
quered enemies with true nobihty. General Gates, the Amer- 
ican commander, kept his men strictly within their lines, 
that they might not witness the piling of the British arms. 
No taunt was offered, no look of disrespect was directed 
against the fallen. "All were mute in astonishment and 
pity." 

England felt acutely the shame of this great disaster. Her 
people were used to victory. For many years she had been 
fighting in Europe, in India, in Canada, and always with bril- 
liant success. Her defeat in America was contrary to all 
expectation. It was a bitter thing for a high-spirited people 
to hear that their veteran troops had surrendered to a crowd 
of half-armed peasantry. Under the depressing influence of 
this calamity it was determined to redress the wrongs of 
America. Parliament abandoned all claim to tax the colo- 
nies. Every vexatious enactment would be repealed. All 
would be forgiven, if America would return to her allegiance. 
Commissioners were sent bearing the olive branch to Con- 
gress. Too late — altogether too late ! Never more can 



1777' Ejfects of the War. 289 

America be a dependency of England. With few words Con- 
gress peremptorily declined the EngHsh overtures. America 
had chosen her course. For good or for evil she would fol- 
low it to the end. 

A great war may be very glorious, but it is also very miser- 
able. Twenty thousand Englishmen had already perished in 
this war. Trade languished, and among the working classes 
there was want of employment and consequent want of food. 
American cruisers swarmed upon the sea, and inflicted enor- 
mous losses upon EngHsh commerce. The debt of the 
country increased. And for all these evils there was no 
compensation. There was not even the poor satisfaction of 
success in the unprofitable undertaking. 

If it was any comfort to inflict even greater miseries than 
she endured, England did not fight in vain. The sufferings 
of America were very lamentable. The loss of life in battle 
and by disease, resulting from want and exposure, had been 
great. The fields in many districts were unsown. Trade was 
extinct ; the trading classes were bankrupt. English cruisers 
had annihilated the fisheries and seized the greater part of the 
American merchant ships. Money had wellnigh disappeared 
from the country. Congress issued paper money, which 
proved a very indifferent substitute. The pubhc had so little 
confidence in the new currency that Washington declared, 
" A wagon-load of money will scarcely purchase a wagon-load 
of provisions." 

But the war went on. It was not for England, with her 
high place among the nations, to retire defeated from an 
enterprise on which she had deliberately entered. As for 
the Americans, after they had declared their resolution to be 
independent, they could die, but they could not yield. 

The surrender of Burgoyne brought an important ally to 
the American side. The gods help those who help them- 
selves. So soon as America proved that she was likely to 

19 



290 Yotmg Folks History of America. 

conquer in the struggle, France offered to come to her aid. 
France had always looked with interest on the war ; partly 
because she hated England, and partly because her pulses 
already throbbed with that new life, whose misdirected ener- 
gies produced, a few years afterwards, results so lamentable. 
Even now a people contending for their liberties awakened 
the sympathies of France. America had sent three commis- 
sioners — one of whom was Benjamin Franklin — to Paris, to 
cultivate as opportunity offered the friendship of the French 
government. For a time they labored without visible results. 
But when news came that Burgoyne and his army had sur- 
rendered, hesitation was at an end. A treaty was signed by 
which France and America engaged to make common cause 
against England. The king opposed this treaty so long as he 
dared, but he was forced to give way. England, of course, 
accepted it as a declaration of war. 

Spain could not miss the opportunity of avenging herself 
upon England. Her king desired to live at peace, he said, 
and to see his neighbors do the same. But he was pro- 
foundly interested in the liberties of the young republic, and 
he was bound by strong ties to his good brother of France. 
Above all, England had in various quarters of the world 
grievously wronged him by violating his territory and inter- 
fering with the trade of his subjects. When his preparations 
were complete he joined France and America in the league, 
and declared war against England. 

The fleets of France and Spain appeared in the British 
Channel, and England had to face the perils of invasion. The 
spirit of her people rose nobly to meet the impending trial. 
The southern counties were one great camp. Voluntary 
contributions from all parts of the country aided government 
to equip ships and soldiers. The king was to head his war- 
like people, should the enemy land, and share their danger 
and their glory. But the black cloud rolled harmlessly away. 




FRENCH NAVAL VICTORY. 



1780. The Story of Major Andre. 293 

and the abounding heroism of the people was not further 
evoked. The invading admirals quarrelled. One of them 
wished to land at once ; the other wished first to dispose of 
the English fleet. They could not agree upon a course, and 
therefore they sailed away home each to his own country, 
having effected nothing. 

The war spread itself over a very wide surface. In the 
North Paul Jones, with three American ships, alarmed the 
Scotch coast and destroyed much shipping. Spain besieged 
Gibraltar, but failed to regain that much-coveted prize. On 
the African coast the French took Senegal from the Eng- 
lish, and the English took Goree from the French. In the 
West Indies the French took St. Vincent and Granada. 

The remaining years of the war were distinguished by few 
striking or decisive enterprises. The fleet sent by France 
sailed hither and thither. When General Howe was made 
aware of its approach, he abandoned Philadelphia and re- 
tired to New York. Washington followed him on his retreat, 
but neither then nor for some time afterward could effect 
much. Congress and the American people formed sanguine 
expectations of the French alliance, and ceased to put forth 
the great efforts which distinguished the earlier period of the 
war. The English overran Georgia and the Carolinas. 

THE STORY OF MAJOR ANDRE. 

The Americans had a strong fortress at West Point, on the 
Hudson River. It was one of the most important places in 
the country, and its acquisition was anxiously desired by the 
English. Possession of West Point would have given them 
command of the Hudson, up which their ships-of-war could 
have sailed for more than a hundred miles. But that fort, 
sitting impregnably on rocks two hundred feet above the level 
of the river, was hard to win ; and the Americans were careful 
to garrison effectively a position so vitally important. 



294 Young Folks' History of America. 

Benedict Arnold was a brilliant but ambitions American 
officer, who had served, not without distinction, from the be- 
ginning of the war. He had fought in Canada when the 
Americans unsuccessfully invaded that province. He had, by 
extravagance in living, involved himself in debt, which he 
aggravated hopelessly by ill-judged mercantile speculations. 
He had sufficient influence with Washington to obtain the 
command of West Point. There is Httle doubt that when he 
sought the appointment it was with the full intention of selling 
that important fortress to the enemy. He opened negotia- 
tions at once with Sir Henry Clinton, then in command of 
the English army at New York. 

Clinton sent Major Andre to arrange the terms of the con- 
templated treachery. A mournful interest attaches to the 
name of this young officer, the fate which befell him was so 
very sad. 

John Andre was of Swiss descent. He was educated in 
Switzerland. At the age of eighteen he entered a London 
counting-house. He was a lover of literature, and among his 
friends were Anna Seward, the "Swan of Litchfield," and 
an accompKshed cousin of Miss Seward, Honora Sneyd. 
Andre became enamored of Miss Sneyd ; she did not 
return the affection, but gave her hand to Richard Lovell 
Edge worth, father of Maria Edge worth. Andre, to soothe 
and forget his disappointed affections, left commercial pur- 
suits, and turned from the associations of home to the turmoil 
of war in a foreign land. He was once taken prisoner, 
and, finding himself about to be stripped of his posses- 
sions, hid the picture of Honora Sneyd in his mouth. Anna 
Seward wrote a monody on Andre after his execution, which 
was very popular in England, and which so severely censured 
General Washington as to call from him an explanation. 
Andre was honored by a monument in the Poet's Corner of 
Westminster Abbey, his brother was knighted, and a pension 
was settled upon his family. 



1780. The Story of Major Andre, 295 

At midnight Major Andre landed from the boat of a British 
ship-of-war, at a lonely place where Arnold awaited him. 
Their conference lasted so long that it was deemed unsafe 
for Andre to return to the ship. He was conducted to a 
place of concealment within the American lines, to await the 
return of darkness. He completed his arrangement with 
Arnold, and received drawings of the betrayed fortress. His 
mission was now accomplished. The ship from which he 
had come lay full in view. Would that he could reach her ! 
But difficulties arose, and it was resolved that he must ride to 
New York, a distance of fifty miles. Disguising himself as 
he best could, Andre reluctantly accepted this very doubtful 
method of escape fi-om his fearful jeopardy. 

Within the American Hues he had some narrow escapes, 
but the pass given by Arnold carried him through. He was 
at length beyond the Hnes. His danger might now be con- 
sidered at an end, and he rode cheerfully on his lonely jour- 
ney. He was crossing a small stream ; thick woods on his 
right hand and his left enhanced the darkness of the night. 
Three armed men stepped suddenly from among the trees 
and ordered him to stand. From the dress of one of them, 
Andr^ thought he was among friends. He hastened to tell 
them he was a British officer, on very special business, and 
he must not be detained. Alas for Andre ! they were not 
friends ; and the dress which deceived him had been given 
to the man who wore it when he was a prisoner with the 
English, in place of a better garment of which his captors 
had stripped him. 

Andr^ was searched ; but at first nothing was found. It 
seemed as if he might yet be allowed to proceed, when one 
of the three men exclaimed, — 

" Boys, I am not satisfied. His boots must come off." 
Andre's countenance fell. His boots were searched, and 
Arnold's drawings of West Point were discovered. The men 



296 Young Folks History of America. 

knew then that he was a spy. He vainly offered them money. 
They were incorruptible. He was taken to the nearest 
military station, and the tidings were at once sent to Wash- 
ington, who chanced to be then at West Point. Arnold had 
timely intimation of the disaster, and fled for refuge to a 
British ship-of-war. 

Andre was tried by a coart formed of officers of the Ameri- 
can army. He gave a frank and truthful account of his part 
in the unhappy transaction, bringing into due prominence 
the circumstance that he was brought, without intention or 
knowledge on his part, within the American lines. The court 
judged him on his own statement, and condemned him to be 
hanged as a spy. 

His capture and sentence caused deep sensation in the 
English army, and every effort was made to save him. But 
the danger to the patriot cause had been too great. There 
were dark intimations of other treasons yet unrevealed. It 
was needful to give emphatic warning of the perils which 
waited on such unlawful negotiations. Andre begged that he 
might be allowed to die a soldier's death. Even this poor 
boon was refused to the unhappy young man. But this was 
mercifully concealed from Andr^ to the very last. 

Ten days after his arrest Andre was led forth to die. He 
was under the impression that his last request had been 
granted, and that he would die by the bullet. It was a fresh 
pang when the gibbet, with its ghastly preparations, stood 
before him. 

"How hard is my fate!" he said; "but it will soon be 
over." 

He bandaged his own eyes ; with his own hands adjusted 
the noose to his neck. The cart on which he stood moved 
away, and poor Major Andr6 was no longer in the world of 
living men. Forty years afterwards his remains were taken 
home to England and laid in Westminster Abbey. 



178 1. Siege of Yorktown. 297 

During the later years of the war the English kept posses- 
sion of the Southern States. When the last campaign opened, 
Lord Cornwallis with a strong force represented British au- 
thority in the South, and did all that he found possible for 
the suppression of the patriots. But the time was past when 
any real progress in that direction could be made. A certain 
vigorous and judicious General Greene, with such rough 
semblance of an army as he could draw together, gave Lord 
Cornwallis many rude shocks. The English gained little vic- 
tories occasionally, but they suffered heavy losses, and the 
territory over which they held dominion was upon the whole 
becoming smaller. 

About midsummer the joyous news reached Washington 
that a powerful French fleet, with an army on board, was 
about to sail for America. With this reinforcement, Wash- 
ington had it in his power to deliver a blow which would 
break the strength of the enemy, and hasten the close of the 
war. Clinton held New York, and Cornwallis was fortifying 
himself in Yorktown. The French fleet sailed for the Chesa- 
peake, and Washington decided in consequence that his at- 
tack should be made on Lord Cornwalhs. With all possible 
secrecy and speed the American troops were moved south- 
ward to Virginia. They were joined by the French, and they 
stood before Yorktown a force twelve thousand strong. Corn- 
walhs had not expected them, and he called on Clinton to aid 
him. But it was too late. He was already in a grasp from 
which there was no escaping. 

Throughout the war, the weakness of his force often 
obliged Washington to adopt a cautious and defensive policy, 
which grievously disappointed the expectations of his impa- 
tient countrymen. It is not therefore to be imagined that his 
leadership was wanting in vigor. Within his calm and well- 
balanced mind there lurked a fiery energy, ready to burst 
forth when occasion required. 



29S Young Folks' History of America. 

The siege of Yorktown was pushed on with extraordinary 
vehemence. The English, as their wont is, made a stout 
defence, and strove by desperate sallies to drive the assailants 
from their works. But in a few days the defences of York- 
town lay in utter ruin, beaten to the ground by the powerful 
artillery of the Americans. The Enghsh guns were silenced. 
The English shipping w?s fired by red-hot shot from the 
French batteries. Ammunition began to grow scarce. The 
place could not be held much longer, and Chnton still 
delayed his coming. Lord Cornwallis must either force his 
way out and escape to the North, or surrender. One night 
he began to embark his men in order to cross the York River 
and set out on his desperate march to New York. A violent 
storm arose and scattered his boats. The men who had em- 
barked got back with difficulty, under fire from the American 
batteries. All hope was now at an end. In about a fortnight 
from the opening of the siege, the British army, eight thou- 
sand strong, laid down its arms. 

The joy of America over this great crowning success knew 
no bounds. One highly emotional patriot was said to have 
expired from mere excess of rapture. Some others lost their 
reason. In the army, all who were under arrest were at once 
set at liberty. A day of solemn thanksgiving was proclaimed, 
and devoutly observed throughout the rejoicing States. 

Well might the colonists rejoice, for their long and bitter 
struggle was now about to close. Stubborn King George 
would not yield yet. But England and her Parliament were 
sick of this hopeless and inglorious war. The House of 
Commons voted that all who should advise the continuance 
of the war were enemies to the country. A new Ministry was 
formed, and negotiations with a view to peace were begun. 
The king had no doubt that if America were allowed to go, 
the West Indies would go ; Ireland would go ; all his foreign 
possessions would go ; and discrowned England would sink 



1783. End of the War. 299 

into weakness and contempt. But too much heed had 
already been given to the king and his fancies. Peace was 
concluded with France and Spain, and the independence of 
America was at length recognized. 

Eight years had passed since the first blood was shed at 
Lexington. Thus long the unyielding English, unused to 
failure, had striven to regain the lost ascendency. Thus long 
the colonists had borne the miseries of invasion, not shaken 
in their faith that the independence which they had under- 
taken to win was well worth all it cost them. And now 
they were free, and England was the same to them as all the 
rest of the world, — "in peace, a friend; in war, a foe." 
They had little left them but their liberty and their soil. 
They had been unutterably devastated by those eight bloody 
years. Their fields had been wasted ; their towns had been 
burned. Commerce was extinct. Money had almost disap- 
peared from the country. Their public debt reached the 
large sum of one hundred and seventy millions of dollars. 
The soldiers who had fought out the national independence 
were not paid till they showed some disposition to compel a 
settlement. There was nothing which could be called a gov- 
ernment. There were thirteen sovereign States, loosely knit 
together by a Congress. That body had power to discuss 
questions affecting the general good ; to pass resolutions ; to 
request the several States to give effect, to these resolutions. 
The States might or might not comply with such request. 
Habitually they did not, especially when money was asked 
for. Congress had no power to tax. It merely apportioned 
among the States the amounts required for the public ser- 
vice, and each State was expected to levy a tax for its propor- 
tion. But in point of fact it became utterly impossible to get 
money by this process. 

Great hardships were endured by the laboring population. 
The impatience of a suffering people expressed itself in occa- 



300 Young Folks\ History of America. 

sional sputterings of insurrection. Two thousand men of 
Massachusetts rose in arms to demand that the collection 
of debts should be suspended. It was some weeks before 
that rising could be quelled, as the community generally 
sympathized with the insurgents. During four or five years 
the miseries of the ungoverned country seemed to warrant the 
beUef that her War of Independence had been a mistake. 

But a future of unparalleled magnificence lay before this 
sorely vexed and discouraged people. The boundless corn- 
lands of the West, the boundless cotton-fields of the South, 
waited to yield their wealth. Pennsylvania held unirnagined 
treasures of coal and iron, soon to be evoked by fhe irre- 
sistible spell of patient industry. America was a vast store- 
house, prepared by the Great Father against the time when 
his children would have need of it. The men who are the 
stewards over its opulence have now freed themselves from 
some entanglements and hinderances which grievously dimin- 
ished their efficiency, and they stand prepared to enter in 
good earnest upon that high industrial vocation to which 
Providence has called them. 

There had been periods during the war when confidence 
in Washington's leadership was shaken. He sustained many 
reverses. He oftentimes retreated. He adhered tenaciously 
to a defensive policy, when Congress and people were burn- 
ing with impatience to inflict crushing defeat upon the foe. 
The deplorable insufficiency of his resources was overlooked, 
and the blame of every disaster fell on him. And when at 
length the cause began to prosper, and hope brightened into 
triumph, timid people were apt to fear that Washington was 
growing too powerful. He had become the idol of a great 
army. He had but to signify his readiness to accept a throne, 
and his soldiers would have crowned him king. It was usual 
in the revolutions of the world that a military chief should 
grasp at supreme power ; and so it was feared that Washing- 



1783. 



Washington at Home. 



301 



ton was to furnish one example more of that lawless and vul- 
gar lust of power by which human history has been so largely 
dishonored. 

But Washington sheathed his sword, and returned gladly 
to his home on the banks of the Potomac. He proposed to 
spend his days "in cultivating the affections of good men, 
and in the practice of the domestic virtues." He hoped " to 
glide gently down the stream which no human effort can 
ascend." He occupied himself with the care of his farm, and 
had no deeper feeling than thankfulness that he was at length 
eased of a load of public care. The simple grandeur of his 
character was now revealed beyond possibility of misconcep- 
tion. The measure of American veneration for this greatest 
of all Americans was full. Henceforth Mount Vernon was 
a shrine to which pilgrim feet were ever turned, evoking 
such boundless love and reverence as never were elsewhere 
exhibited on American soil. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

THE THIRTEEN STATES BECOME A NATION. 

Washington saw from the beginning that his country was 
without a government. Congress was a mere name. There 
were still thirteen sovereign States, in league for the mo- 
ment, but liable to be placed at variance by the differences 
which time would surely bring. Washington was satisfied 
that without a central government they could never be pow- 
erful or respected. Such a government, indeed, was neces- 
sary in order even to their existence. European powers 
would, in its absence, introduce dissensions among them. 
Men's minds would revert to that form of government with 
which they were familiar. Some ambitious statesman or 
soldier would make himself king, and the great experiment, 
based upon the equality of rights, would prove an ignomin- 
ious failure. 

The more sagacious Americans shared Washington's be- 
lief on this question. Conspicuous among these was Alex- 
ander Hamilton, — perhaps, next to Washington, the greatest 
American of that age. Hamilton was a brave and skilful 
soldier, a brilliant debater, a persuasive writer, a wise 
statesman. In his nineteenth year he entered the army, at 
the very beginning of the war. The quick eye of Washing- 
ton discovered the remarkable promise of the lad. He 
raised him to high command in the army, and afterwards 
to high office in the government. It was. Hamilton who 
brought order out of the financial chaos which followed 



1787. Constitutional Convention. 305 

the war. It was Hamilton who suggested the convention 
to consider the framing of a new Constitution. Often, 
during the succeeding years, Hamilton's temperate and 
sagacious words calmed the storms which marked the 
infancy of the great republic. His career had a dark and 
bloody close. In his forty-seventh year he stood face to 
face, one bright July morning, with an ambitious politician 
named Aaron Burr. Burr had fastened a quarrel upon 
him, in the hope of murdering him in a duel. Hamilton 
had resolved not to fire. Burr fired with careful aim, and 
Hamilton fell, fatally wounded. One of the ablest men 
America has ever possessed was thus lost to her. 

Immediately after the close of the war Hamilton began 
to discuss the weakness of the existing form of government. 
He was deeply convinced that the union of the States, in 
order to be lasting, must be established on a solid basis ; 
and his writings did much to spread this conviction among 
his fellow-countrymen. Washington never ceased, from his 
retirement, to urge the same views. Gradually the urgent 
need of a better system was recognized. It indeed soon 
became too obvious to be denied. Congress found it ut- 
terly impossible to get money. Between 1781 and 1786, 
ten millions of dollars were called for from the States, but 
only two millions and a half were obtained. The interest 
on the debt was unpaid. The ordinary expenses of the 
government were unprovided for. The existing form of 
government was an acknowledged failure. Something bet- 
ter had to be devised, or the tie which bound the thirteen 
States would be severed. 

Hamilton obtained the sanction of Congress to his pro- 
posal that a convention of delegates from the several States 
should be held. This convention was to review the whole 
subject of the governing arrangement, and to recommend 
such alterations as should be considered adequate to the 

20 



3o6 Young Folks History of Ameidca. 

exigencies of the time. Philadelphia, as usual, was the 
place of meeting. Thither, in the month of May, came the 
men who were charged with the weighty task of framing a 
p-overnment under which the thirteen States should become 
a nation. 

Fifty-five men composed this memorable council. Among 
them were the wisest men of whom America, or perhaps 
any other country, could boast. Washington himself pre- 
sided. Benjamin Franklin brought to this — his latest and 
his greatest task — the ripe experience of eighty-two years. 
New York sent Hamilton, regarding whom Prince Talley- 
rand said, long afterwards, that he had known nearly all 
the leading men of his time, but he had never known one 
on the whole equal to Hamilton. With these came many 
others whose names are held in enduring honor. Since the 
meeting of that first Congress which pointed the way to 
independence, America had seen no such assembly. 

The convention sat for four months. The great work 
which occupied it divided the country into two parties. One 
party feare(^.■most the evils which arise from weakness of 
the governing power, and sought relief from these in a close 
union of the States under a strong government. Another 
party dwelt more upon the miserable condition of the over- 
governed nations of Europe, and feared the creation of a 
government which might grow into a despotism. The aim 
of the one was to vest the largest possible measure of power 
in a central government. Hamilton, indeed, — to whom 
the British Constitution seemed the most perfect on 
earth, — went so* far as to desire that the States should be 
merely great municipalities, attending only, like an English 
corporation, to their own local concerns. The aim of the 
other was to circumscribe the powers accorded to the gen- 
eral government, to vindicate the sovereignty of the indi- 
vidual States, and give to it the widest possible scope. 



1787- The Federal Constitution. 307 

These two sets of opinions continued to exist and conflict 
for three-quarters of a century, till that which assigned an 
* undue dominion to what were called State Rights perished 
in the overthrow of the government of the Confederate 
States. 

Slowly and through endless debate the convention worked 
out its plan of a government. The scheme was submitted to 
Congress, and thence sent down to the several States. 
Months of fiery discussion ensued. Somewhat reluctantly, 
by narrow majorities, in the face of vehement protests, the 
Constitution was at length adopted under which the thir- 
teen States- were to become so great. 

Great Britain has no written Constitution. She has her 
laws ; and it is expected that all future laws shall be in tol- 
erable harmony with the principles on which her past legis- 
lation has been founded. But if Parliament were to enact, 
and the sovereign to sanction, any law at variance with 
these principles, there is no help for it. Queen, Lords, and 
Commons are supreme authority, from whose decisions there 
lies no appeal. In America it is different ; with us the su- 
preme authority is a written Constitution. Congress may 
unanimously enact, and the President may cordially sanc- 
tion, a new law. The Judges of the Supreme Court, sitting 
in the same building where Congress meets, may compare 
that law with the Constitution. If it is found at variance 
with the Constitution, it is unceremoniously declared to be no 
law, and entitled to no man's obedience. With a few amend- 
ments, the original Constitution remains in full force now, 
receiving, as it increases in age, the growing reverence of the 
people. The men who framed it miist have been very 
wise. The people for whom it was framed must possess in 
high degree the precious Anglo-Saxon veneration for law. 
Otherwise the American paper Constitution must long ago 
have shared the fate of the numerous documents of this 



3o8 Young Folks History of America. 

class under which the French vainly sought rest during 
their first Revolution. 

The Federal Constitution was adopted on the 17th of 
September, 1787. Under it General George Washington was 
elected the first President. John Adams was elected Vice- 
President. The first President was inaugurated on April 
30, 1789. 

The question of the public debt was the first issue that 
the new Congress had to meet. 

Washington, with a sigh, asked a friend, " What is to be 
done about this heavy debt ? " " There is but one man in 
America can tell you," said his friend, " and that is Alex- 
ander Hamilton." Washington made Hamilton Secretary 
of the Treasury. The success of his financial measures 
was immediate and complete. " He smote the rock of the 
national resources," said Daniel Webster, " and abundant 
streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead 
corpse of the public credit, and it sprang upon its feet." 
All the war debts of the States were assumed by the gen- 
eral government. Efficient provision was made for the 
regular payment of interest, and for a sinking fund to liqui- 
date the principal. Duties were imposed on shipping, on 
goods imported from abroad, and on spirits manufactured 
at home. The vigor of the government inspired public 
confidence. Commerce began to revive. In a few years 
the American flag was seen on every sea. The simple 
manufactures of the country resumed their long-interrupted 
activity. A national bank was established. Courts were 
set up, and judges were appointed. The salaries of the 
President and the great functionaries were settled. A 
home was chosen for the general government on the banks 
of the Potomac, where the capital of the Union was to 
supplant the little wooden village, — remote from the agi- 
tations which arise in the great centres of population. In- 



1797- 



Washington at Mount Vernon. 



309 



numerable details connected with the establishment of a 
new government were discussed and fixed. Novel as the 
circumstances were, little of the work then done has re- 
quired to be undone. Succeeding generations of Ameri- 
cans have approved the wisdom of their early legislators, 




MOUNT VERNON. 



and continue unaltered the arrangements which were 
framed at the outset of the national existence. 

Washington was President during the first eight years of 
the Constitution. He survived his withdrawal from public 
life only three years, dying, after a few hours' illness, in 



310 Young Folks History of America. 

the sixty-eighth year of his age. His countrymen mourned 
him with a sorrow sincere and deep. Their reverence for 
him has not diminished with the progress of the years. 
Each new generation of Americans catches up the venera- 
tion — calm, intelHgent, but profound — with which its 
fathers regarded the blameless chief. To this day there is 
an affectionate watchfulness for opportunities to express 
the honor in which his name is held. To this day the 
steamers which ply upon the Potomac strike mournful notes 
upon the bell as they sweep past Mount Vernon, where 
Washington spent the happiest days of his life, and where 
he died. 




FIGHT BETWEEN THE CONSTELLATION AND LA VENGEANCE. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FROM WASHINGTON TO MADISON. 

Thirty years of peace succeeded the War of Indepen- 
dence. There were, indeed, passing troubles with the In- 
dians, ending always in the sharp chastisement of those 
disagreeable savages. There was an expedition against 
Tripoli, to avenge certain indignities which the barbarians 
of that region had offered to American shipping. There 
was a misunderstanding with the French Directory, which 
was. carried to a somewhat perilous extreme. A desperate 
fight -took place between a French frigate and an American 
frigate, resulting in the surrender of the former. But these 
trivial agitations did not disturb the profound tranquillity 
of the nation, or hinder its progress in that career of pros- 
perity on which it had now entered. 

In 1797, General Washington having declined to be a 
candidate for President, John Adams was chosen his suc- 
cessor, and Thomas Jefferson was elected Vice-President. 
During the administration of Mr. Adams, the city of Wash- 
ington became the seat of government. Congress had 
hitherto met in the city of Philadelphia. In 1801 Thomas 
Jefferson was elected President and Aaron Burr Vice- 
President. Mr. Jefferson continued in office eight years. 
He was succeeded by James Madison in 1809. 

In 1806 England gave out a decree announcing that all 
the coasts of France and her allies were in a state of block- 
ade, and that any vessels attempting to trade with the 



314 Young Folks History of America. 

blockaded countries were liable to seizure. At that time 
nearly all the continent was in alliance with France. Na- 
poleon replied by declaring the British Islands in a state of 
blockade. These decrees closed Europe against American 
vessels. Many captures were made, especially by English 
cruisers. American merchants suffered grievous losses, 
and loudly expressed their just wrath against the wicked 
laws which wrought them so much evil. 

There was another question out of .which mischief arose. 
England has always maintained that any person who has 
once been her subject can never cease to be so. He may 
remove to another country. He may become the citizen 
of another State. English law recognizes no such transac- 
tion. England claims that the man is still an English 
subject, entitled to the advantages of that relation, and 
bound by its obligations. America, on the other hand, 
asserted that men could lay down their original citi- 
zenship and assume another, could transfer their alle- 
giance, could relinquish the privileges and absolve them- 
selves from the obligations which they inherited. The 
Englishmen who settled on her soil were regarded by 
her as American' citizens, and as nothing else. 

Circumstances arose which bestowed dangerous impor- 
tance upon these conflicting doctrines. England at that 
time obtained sailors by impressment ; that is to say, she 
seized men who were engaged on board merchant vessels, 
and compelled them to serve on board her ships-of-war. 
It was a process second only to the slave-trade in its 
iniquity. The service to which men were thus introduced 
could not but be hateful. There was a copious desertion, 
as opportunity offered, and America was the natural refuge. 
English ships-of-war claimed the right to search American 
vessels for men who had deserted ; and also for men who, 
as born English subjects, were liable to be impressed. It 



i8o6. 



The English Right of Search, 



315 



may well be believed that this right was not always exer- 
cised with a strict regard to justice. It was not always 
easy to distinguish an Enghshman from an American. 
Perhaps the English captains were not very scrupulous as 
to the evidence on which they acted. The Americans 




THE ENGLISH RIGHT OF SEARCH. 

asserted that six thousand men, on whom England had no 
shadow of claim, were ruthlessly carried off to fight under 
a flag they hated ; the English Government admitted the 
charge to the extent of sixteen hundred men. The Ameri- 
can people vehemently resented the intolerable pretension 



3i6 Young Folks* History of America. 

of England. Occasionally an American ship resisted it, 
and blood was freely shed. 

Congress prohibited commerce with the European Pow- 
ers which had disregarded her rights on the sea. Com- 
merce was interrupted, and the grievance was not abated. 
At length Congress ended suspense by passing a bill which 
declared war against Great Britain. 

When war was declared, England possessed one thou- 
sand ships-of-war, and America possessed twentyo Their 
land forces were in like proportion. England had nearly 
a million of men under arms. America had an army reck- 
oned at twenty-four thousand, many of them imperfectly 
disciplined, and not yet to be relied upon in the field. 
Her treasury was empty. She was sadly wanting in offi- 
cers of experience. She had declared war, but it was diffi- 
cult to see what she could do in the way of giving effect to 
her hostile purposes. 

But she held to these purposes with unfaltering tenacity. 
Four days after Congress had resolved to fight, England 
repealed those blockading decrees, which had so justly 
offended the Americans. There remained now only the 
question of the right of search. The British Minister at 
Washington proposed that an attempt should be made to 
settle peaceably this sole remaining ground of quarrel. 
The proposal was declined. 

The first efforts of the Americans were signally unsuc- 
cessful. They attacked Canada with an army of two 
thousand five hundred men. But this force had scarcely 
got upon Canadian ground when it was driven back. It 
was besieged in Fort Detroit by an inferior British army 
and forced to surrender. The unfortunate General Hull, 
who commanded, was brought to trial by his angry coun- 
trymen and sentenced to be shot. He was pardoned, 
however, in consideration of former services. 




SEA-FIGHT, WAR OF l8l2. 



».' 



i8i2. Naval Battles. 



319 



A second invasion followed, closed by a second surren- 
der. During other two campaigns the Americans prose- 
cuted their invasion. Ships were built and launched upon 
the great lakes which lie between the territories of the 
combatants. 

At sea a strange gleam of good fortune cheered the 
Americans. It was there England felt herself omnipotent. 
She, with her thousand ships, might pardonably despise the 
enemy who came against her with twenty. But it was there 
disaster overtook her. 

During the autumn months a series of encounters took 
place between single British and American ships. In every 
instance victory remained with die Americans. Five Eng- 
lish vessels were taken or destroyed. The Americans 
were in most of these engagements more heavily manned and 
armed than their enemies. But the startling fact remained. 
Five British ships-of-war had been taken in battle by the 
Americans. Five defeats had been sustained by England. 
Her sovereignty of the sea had received a rude shock. 

The loss of a great battle would not have moved Eng- 
land more profoundly than the capture of these five unim- 
portant ships. It seemed to many to foretell the downfall 
of her maritime supremacy. She had ruled the seas, be- 
cause, heretofore, no other country produced sailors equal 
to hers. But a new power had now arisen, whose home, 
equally with that of Britannia herself, was upon the deep. 
If America could achieve these startling successes while 
she had only twenty ships, what miglif she not accomplish 
with that ampler force which she would hereafter possess ? 
England had many enemies, all of whom rejoiced to see 
in these defeats the approaching decay of her envied 



greatness. 



Among English sailors there was a burning eagerness to 
wipe out the unlooked-for disgrace which had fallen upon 



320 Yomig Folks History of America. 

the flag. A strict blockade of American ports was main- 
tained. On board the English ships which cruised on the 
American coasts impatient search was made for oppor- 
tunities of retrieving the honor of the service. 

Two English ships lay off Boston in the summer of 1813, 
under the command of Captain Broke. Within the bay 
the American frigate Chesapeake had lain for many m.onths. 
Captain Broke had bestowed especial pains upon the train- 
ing of his men, and he believed he had made them a match 
for any equal force. He and they desired to test their 
prowess in battle. He sent away one of his ships, retain- 
ing only the Shannon, which was slightly inferior to the 
Chesapeake in guns and in men. And then he stood close 
in to the shore, and sent to Captain Lawrence of the Chesa- 
peake an invitation to come forth, that |;hey might " try the 
fortune of their respective flags." 

From his mast-head Captain Broke watched anxiously 
the movements of the hostile ship. Soon he saw her can- 
vas shaken out to the breeze. His challenge w^as accepted. 
The stately Chesapeake moved slowly down the bay, 
attended by many barges and pleasure-boats. To the over- 
sanguine men of Boston it seemed that Captain Lawrence 
sailed out to assured victory. They crowded to house-top 
and hill to witness his success. They prepared a banquet 
to celebrate his triumphant return. 

Slowly and in grim silence the hostile ships drew near. 
No shot was fired till they were within a stone's throw of 
each other, and thetnen in either could look into the faces 
of those they were about to destroy. Then began the 
horrid carnage of a sea-fight. The well-trained British fired 
with steady aim, and every shot told. The rigging of their 
enemy was speedily ruined ; her stern was beaten in ; her 
decks were swept by discharges of heavy guns loaded with 
musket-balls. The American firing was much less effect- 



i8i3- Fight of Chesapeake and Shannon. 323 

ive. After a few broadsides, the ships came into contact. 
The Shannon continued to fire grape-shot from two of her 
guns. The Chesapeake could now reply feebly, and only 
with musketry. Captain Broke prepared to board. Over 
decks heaped with slain and slippery with blood the Eng- 
lishmen sprang upon the yielding foe. The American flag 
was pulled down, and resistance ceased. 

The fight lasted but a quarter of an hour. So few 
minutes ago the two ships, peopled by seven hundred rnen 
in the pride of youth and strength, sailed proudly over seas 
which smiled in the peaceful sunlight of that summer 
evening ! Now their rigging lies in ruins upon the cum- 
bered decks ; their sides are riven by shot ; seventy-one 
dead bodies wait to be thrown overboard ; one hundred 
and fifty-seven men lie wounded and in anguish, some of 
them to die, some to recover and live out cheerless lives, 
till the grave opens for their mutilated and disfigured forms. 
Did these men hate each other with a hatred so intense 
that they could do no less than inflict these evils upon each 
other? They had no hatred at all. Their governments 
differed, and this was their method of ascertaining who was 
in the right ! Surely men will one day be wise enough 
to adopt some process for the adjustment of differences 
less wild in its inaccuracy, less brutish in its cruelty, than 
this. 

This victory, so quickly won and so decisive, restored 
the confidence of England in her naval superiority. The 
war went on with varying fortune. The Americans, awak- 
ening to the greatness of the necessity, put forth vigorous 
efforts to increase both army and navy. Frequent en- 
counters between single ships occurred. Sometimes the 
American ship captured or destroyed the British. More 
frequently now the British ship captured or destroyed the 
American. The superb fighting capabilities of the race 



324 Young Folks History of America. 

were splendidly illustrated, but no results of a more solid 
character can be enumerated. 

But meanwhile momentous changes had occurred in 
Europe. Napoleon had been overthrown, and England 
was enjoying the brief repose which his residence in Elba 
afforded. She could bestow some attention now upon her 
American quarrel. Several regiments of Wellington's sol- 
diers were sent to America, under the command of General 
Ross, and an attack upon Washington was determined. 
The force at General Ross's disposal was only three 
thousand five hundred men. With means so inconsiderable, 
it seemed rash to attack the capital of a great nation. But 
the result proved that General Ross had not underesti- 
mated the difficulties of the enterprise. 

Only seven thousand men could be drawn together to 
resist the advance of the English. These took post at Bla- 
densburg, where there was a bridge over the Potomac. The 
English were less numerous, but they were veterans who 
had fought under Wellington in many battles. To them 
it was play to rout the undisciplined levies. They dashed 
upon the enemy, who, scarcely waiting to fire a shot, broke 
and fled towards Washington in hopeless confusion. 

That same evening the British marched quietly into Wash- 
ington. General Ross had orders to destroy or hold to 
ransom all pubUc buildings. He offered to spare the na- 
tional property, if a certain sum of money were paid to him. 
The authorities declined his proposal. Next day a great 
and most unjustifiable ruin was wrought. The Capitol, the 
President's residence, the government offices, even the 
bridge over the Potomac, all were' destroyed. The navy 
yard and arsenal, with some ships in course of building, 
were set on fire by the Americans themselves. The Presi- 
dent's house was pillaged by the soldiers before it was 
burned. These devastations were effected in obedience to 



i8i4- The Treaty of Ghent, 325 

peremptory orders from the British Government, on whom 
rests the shame of proceedings so reprehensible and so 
unusual in the annals of civilized war. On the same day 
the British withdrew from the ruins of the burning capital, 
and retired towards the coast. 

The Americans were becoming weary of the war. There 
was small hope of success, now that Britain had no otlier 
enemy to engage her attention. America had no longer a 
ship-of-war to protect her coasts from insult. Her trade was 
nearly extinct. Her exports, which were seventy millions 
of dollars before the war, had sunk to one-tenth of that 
amount. Two-thirds of the trading classes were insolvent. 
The revenue hitherto derived from customs had ceased. 
The credit of the country was not good. Taxation became 
very oppressive, and thus enhanced extremely the unpopu- 
larity of the war. Some of the New England States refused 
to furnish men or money, and indicated a disposition to 
make peace for themselves, if they could not obtain it other- 
wise. 

Peace was urgently needed, and happily was near at 
hand. Late one Saturday night a British sloop-of-war 
arrived at New York, bearing a treaty of peace, already 
ratified by the British Government. The cry of " Peace ! 
peace ! " rang through the gladdened streets. The city 
burst into spontaneous illumination. The news reached 
Boston on Monday morning. Boston was almost beside her- 
self with joy. A multitude of idle ships had long lain at her 
wharves. Before night carpenters were at work making 
them ready to go to sea. Sailors were engaged ; cargoes 
were being passed on board. Boston returned without 
an hour's delay to her natural condition of commercial 
activity. 

British and American commissioners had met at Ghent, 
and had agreed upon terms of peace. The fruitlessness of 



326 YoiLug Folks History of America. 

war is a familiar discovery when men have calmness to 
review its losses and its gains. Both countries had endured 
much during these three years of hostilities ; and now the 
peace left as they had been before the questions whose set- 
tlement was the object of the war. 

The treaty was concluded on the 24th December. Could 
the news have been flashed by telegraph across the Atlantic, 
much brave life would have been saved. But seven weeks 
elapsed before it was known in the southern parts of 
America that the two countries were at peace. And mean- 
while one of the bloodiest fights of the war had been 
fought. 

New Orleans, a town of nearly twenty thousand inhabi- 
tants, was then, as it is now, one of the great centres of the 
cotton trade, and commanded the navigation of the Missis- 
sippi. The capture of a city so important could not fail to 
prove a heavy blow to America. An expedition for this 
purpose was organized. Just when the commissioners at 
Ghent were felicitating themselves upon the peace they had 
made, the British army, in storm and intolerable cold, was 
being rowed on shore within a few miles of New Orleans. 

Sir Edward Pakenham, one of the heroes of the Penin- 
sula, commanded the English. The defence of New Or- 
leans was intrusted to General Jackson. Jackson had 
been a soldier from his thirteenth year. He had spent a 
youth of extraordinary hardship. He was now a strong- 
willed, experienced, and skilful leader, in whom his soldiers 
had boundless confidence. Pakenham, fresh from the tri- 
umphs of the Peninsula, looked with mistaken contempt 
upon his formidable enemy. 

Jackson's line of defence was something over half a mile 
in length. The Mississippi covered his right flank, an 
impassable swamp and jungle secured his left. Along his 
front ran a deep broad ditch, topped by a rampart com- 




JESUIT MISSIONARY ADDRESSING THE INDIANS. 



1815. The Battle of New Orleans, 329 

posed of bales of cotton. In this strong position the 
Americans awaited the coming of the enemy. 

At daybreak on the 8th January the British, six thousand 
strong, made their attack. The dim morning Hght revealed 
to the Americans the swift advance of the red-coatecthost. 
A murderous fire of grape and round shot was opened from 
the guns mounted on the bastion. Brave men fell fast, 
but the assailants passed on through the storm. They 
reached the American works. It was their design to scale 
the ramparts, and, once within, to trust to their bayonets, 
which had never deceived them yet. But at the foot of 
the ramparts it was found that scaling-ladders had been 
omitted in the preparations for the assault ! The men 
mounted on each other's shoulders, and thus some of them 
forced their way into the works, only to be shot down 
by the American riflemen. All was vain. A deadly fire 
streamed incessantly from that fatal parapet upon the de- 
fenceless men below. Sir Edward Pakenham fell mortally 
wounded. The carnage was frightful, and the enterprise 
visibly hopeless. The troops were withdrawn in great 
confusion, having sustained a loss of two thousand men. 
The Americans had seven men killed and the same number 
wounded. 

Thus closed the war. Both countries look with just 
pride upon the heroic courage so profusely displayed in 
battle, and upon the patient endurance with which great 
sacrifices were submitted to. It is a pity these high quali- 
ties did not find a more worthy field for their exercise. 
The war was a gigantic folly and wickedness, such as no 
future generation of Americans or Englishmen, we may 
venture to hope, will ever repeat. 

On the Fourth of July, 1826, all America kept holiday. 
On that day, fifty years before, the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was signed, and America began her great career as 



330 Young Folks' History of America. 

a free country. Better occasion for jubilee the world has 
seldom known. The Americans must needs do honor to 
the fathers of their independence, most of whom have 
already passed away ; two of them, John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson, died on this very day. They must 
pause and look back upon this amazing half-century. The 
world had never seen grcvvth so rapid. There were three 
millions of Americans who threw off the British yoke. 
Now there were twelve millions. The thirteen States had 
increased to twenty-four. The territory of the Union had 
been prodigiously enlarged. Louisiana had been sold by 
France. Florida had been ceded by Spain. Time after 
time tribes of vagrant Indians yielded up their lands and 
enrolled themselves subjects of the great republic. The 
Gulf of Mexico now bounded the Union on the south, and 
the lakes which divide her from Canada on the north. 
From the Atlantic on the east, she already looked out upon 
the Pacific on the west. Canals had been cut leading from 
the Great Lakes to the Hudson, and the grain which grew 
on the corn-lands of the West, thousands of miles away, 
was brought easily to New York. Innumerable roads had 
been made. The debt incurred in the War of Indepen- 
dence had been all paid, and the still heavier debt incurred 
in the second war with England was being rapidly extin- 
guished. A steady tide of emigration flowed westward. 
Millions of acres of the fertile wilderness which lay towards 
the setting sun had been at length made profitable to man- 
kind. Extensive manufactories had been established in 
which cotton and woollen fabrics were produced. The 
foreign trade of the country amounted to two hundred 
millions of dollars. 

The Marquis Lafayette, now an old man, came to see 
once more before he died the country he had helped to 
save, and took part with wonder in the national rejoicing. 



1^26. Visit of Lafayette, 33 1 

The poor colonists, for whose liberties he fought, had 
already become a powerful and wealthy nation. Every- 
where there had been expansion. Everywhere there were 
comfort and abundance. Everywhere there were bound- 
less faith in the future, and a vehement, unresting energy, 
which would surely compel the fulfilment of any expecta- 
tion, however vast. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE TWO EMPIRES, — THE UNITED STATES AND 

CANADA. 

North America was now divided into two principal 
empires, the United States and Canada. The Mexican 
empire at the South has entered but little into the history 
and progress of the world. 

The French empire in America had passed away. Let 
us glance at this vanished dominion, so full of romance 
and once so promising of great results. 

The French settlements in Acadia, on the Bay of Fundy, 
and in Canada, were formed before the building of James- 
town. They became military and missionary posts rather 
than agricultural colonies, and depended upon the home 
government for support rather than upon themselves. 
They were fam.ous for brilliant explorations, but the ex- 
plorers nowhere rooted themselves to the soil. They 
gained the friendship of the Indians and lived in peace 
with them, joined them in the chase and dance, and even 
adopted their customs and habits. The French Jesuits 
penetrated the recesses of the wilderness, preaching in 
wigwams, baptizing converts, and adorning them with the 
emblems of their faith. 

In 1673 two of these missionaries, Marquette and Jo- 
liet, discovered the Mississippi, finding their way to it by 
the great water-courses of the Fox and Wisconsin. In 
1682 Robert de la Salle passed down the river to the Gulf 



1754- French and Indian War. 335 

of Mexico, and in honor of Louis XIV. called the territory 
Louisiana. The king afterwards granted him a commis- 
sion to found a colony there. The explorer accepted the 
trust, came with his colony in ships from France to the Gulf 
of Mexico, but was unable to find the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi. He landed on the coast of Texas, and founded a 
temporary settlement. He then started on an expedition 
by land to discover the Mississippi. A conspiracy was 
formed against him among his own followers, and he was 
treacherously shot by one of them, and his colony was not 
long afterwards destroyed by the Indians. 

As often as England and France went to war, there was 
war between the English and French colonists. The 
French always found allies in the Indians, and, by employ- 
ing these merciless warriors, gained a reputation for bar- 
barity quite foreign to their national character. This was 
the case during King William's War, when the massacre at 
Schenectady occurred ; and, again, in 1706, when Deer- 
field and Haverhill, in Massachusetts, were sacked and 
burned by the French and Indians. 

The decisive struggle between the French and English 
in America, for the possession of the country between the 
Great Lakes and the Mexican Gulf, began in 1753. Loui- 
siana had now become quite populous and wealthy, and a 
plan was formed to connect Canada with Louisiana by a 
line of forts, extending from Lake Erie along the waters 
of the Ohio to the Mississippi, thus bounding the Eng- 
lish territory. The project brought the French into 
collision with the Ohio Company, which led to the 
French and Indian war (1754). It was during this war 
that Acadia was depopulated, for refusing to give alle- 
giance to the English. Seven thousand Acadians were 
forced on shipboard and transported to the English col- 
onies, where they were scattered and supported as pau- 



336 Voting- Folks History of America. 

pers. The struggle ended in 1762, in the victory of the 
English at Quebec. 

The English colonies now began to grow in Canada. 
Immigration increased, Montreal became a city, and a 
thronging multitude of settlers began to build on the 
tributaries of the Ohio. The borders of the lakes on either 
side were lined with prosperous villages. The War for 
Independence separated the Canadian from the Atlantic 
colonies at the natural boundary of the gulf and lakes. 

The population of Canada became nearly four mil- 
lions. Montreal is one of the most beautiful cities in 
America, and contains some of the finest churches in the 
New World. It is situated in a region of varied beauty, 
that has been called the "Garden of the Continent." 
The view from Mount Royal, which seems to overhang the 
city, is one of the most picturesque in the North. The St. 
Lawrence, the Lachine Rapids, the distant mountains of 
Belceil and Boucherville, the rich soil, with bending orchards 
and dark forests, the villas, country seats, and pleasure- 
grounds near at hand, the melodious bell of the French 
cathedral in the mild, bright air, all combine to make 
the scene one ever to be remembered : — 

" Ever changing, ever new, 
When will the landscape tire the view ? 
The fountain's fall ; the river's flow ; 
The woody valley, warm and low ; 
The windy summit, wild and high, 
Roughly reaching to the sky ; 
The pleasant seat ; the ruined tower ; 
The naked rock ; the shady bower ; 
The town, the village, dome, and farm, 
Each gives to each a double charm, 
Like pearls upon an Ethiop's arm." 

It was with such scenery in view that Thomas Moore 
wrote his " Canadian Boat Song : " — 



1867. The Dominion of Canada. 339 

" Faintly as tolls the evening chime, 
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time. 
Soon as the woods on the shore look dim, 
We give to St. Ann our parting hymn. 
Row, brothers, row ! the stream runs fast, 
The rapids are near, and daylight's past." 

The growth of Canada has been affected by few political 
changes or little to disturb its peace. In 1791 Canada was 
divided into two provinces, called Upper and Lower Can- 
ada, and afterwards Ontario and Quebec. A governor was 
appointed for each by the English government, and each 
had its Representative Assembly. In 1840 the British 
Parliament passed an act uniting the two provinces under 
the name of the Province of Canada. On the ist of July, 
1867, Queen Victoria, by proclamation, declared the prov- 
inces of Ontario (Upper Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), 
Nova Scotia (Acadia), and New Brunswick, to be united 
under one federal government, to be known as the Domin- 
ion OF Canada. Three other provinces, Prince Edward 
Island, British Columbia, and Manitoba, afterwards joined 
this confederation. 

The Governor General of Canada is appointed by the 
sovereign of England, and represents the Crown. He 
resides at Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion. The vice- 
royal residence is known as Rideau Hall. 

Ottawa, like Montreal, is beautiful in situation. On the 
west of the city is the cataract of the Ottawa or Chaudiere 
Falls ; and on the east are two cataracts, over which the 
rapid Rideau falls into the Ottawa. The city has a popula- 
tion of about twenty-two thousand. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE STORY OF SLAVERY. 

Soon after the Revolution, several slave-owning States pro- 
hibited the importation of slaves. The Constitution provided 
that Congress might suppress the slave-trade after the lapse 
of twenty years. Put for the resistance of South Carolina 
and Georgia the prohibition would have been immediate. 
At length, at the earliest moment when it was possible. 
Congress gave effect to the general sentiment by enacting 
" that no slaves be imported into any of the thirteen United 
Colonies." 

And why had this not been done earlier? If the colonists 
were sincere in their desire to suppress this base traffic, why 
did they not suppress it? The reason is not difficult to find. 
England would not permit them. England forced the slave- 
trade upon the reluctant colonists. The English Parliament 
watched with paternal care over the interests of this hideous 
traffic. During the first half of the eighteenth century Parlia- 
ment was continually legislating to this effect. Every restraint 
upon the largest development of the trade was removed with 
scrupulous care. Every thing that diplomacy could do to 
open new markets was done. When the colonists sought by 
imposing a tax to check the importation of slaves, that tax 
was repealed. Land was given free, in the West Indies, on 
condition that the settler should keep four negroes for every 
hundred acres. Forts were built on the African coast for the 
protection of the trade. So recently as the year 1 749 an Act 










MURDER OF LA SALLE IN TEXAS. 



1749- ^ihe Slave-Trade Ejtcouraged. 343 

was passed bestowing additional encouragements upon slave- 
traders, and emphatically asserting, " The slave-trade is very 
advantageous to Great Britain." There are no passages in 
all her history so humiliating as these. 

It is marvellous that such things were done, deliberately, 
and with all the solemnities of legal sanction, by men not 
unacquainted with the Christian religion, and humane in all 
the ordinary relations of life. The Inquisition inflicted no 
suffering more cruel than was endured by the victim of the 
slave-trader. Hundreds of men and women, with chains 
upon their limbs, were packed closely together into the holds 
of small vessels. There, during weeks of suffering, they re- 
mained, enduring fierce tropical heat, often deprived of water 
and of food. They were all young and strong, for the fas- 
tidious slave-trader rejected men over thirty as uselessly old. 
But the strength of the strongest sank under the horrors of 
this voyage. Often it happened that the greater portion of 
the cargo had to be flung overboard. Under the most favor- 
able circumstances, it was expected that one slave in every 
five would perish. In every cargo of five hundred, one hun- 
dred would suffer a miserable death. And the public senti- 
ment of England fully sanctioned a traffic of which these 
horrors were a necessary part. 

At one time the idea was prevalent in the colonies that it 
was contrary to Scripture to hold a baptized person in slavery. 
The colonists did not on that account liberate their slaves. 
They escaped the difficulty in the opposite direction. They 
withheld baptism and religious instruction. England took 
some pains to put them right on this question. The bishops 
of the Church and the law-officers of the Crown issued au- 
thoritative declarations, asserting the entire lawfulness of 
owning Christians. The colonial legislatures followed with 
enactments to the same effect. The colonists, thus reassured, 
gave consent that the souls of their unhappy dependants 
should be cared for. 



344 Young Folks History of America. 

Up to the Revolution it was estimated that three hundred 
thousand negroes had been brought into the country direct 
from Africa. The entire colored population was supposed to 
amount to nearly half a million. 

When America gained her independence slavery existed in 
all the colonies. No State was free from the taint. Even 
the New England Puritan? held slaves. At an early period 
they had learned to enslave their Indian neighbors. The 
children of the Pilgrims owned Indians, and in due time 
owned Africans, without remorse. But the number of slaves 
in the North was always small. At first it was not to the 
higher principle or clearer intelligence of the Northern men 
that this limited prevalence of slavery was due. The North 
was not a region where slave labor could ever be profitable. 
The climate was harsh, the soil rocky and bleak. Labor 
required to be directed by intelligence. In that compara- 
tively unproductive land the mindless and heartless toil of 
the slave would scarcely defray the cost of his support. At 
the Revolution there were half a milHon of slaves in the colo- 
nies, and of these only thirty to forty thousand were in the 
North. 

It was otherwise in the sunny and luxuriant South. The 
African was at home there, for the climate was like his own. 
The rich soil yielded its wealth to labor in the slightest and 
least intelligent form. The culture of rice and tobacco and 
cotton supplied the very kind of work which a slave was fitted 
to perform. The South found profitable employment for as 
many Africans as the slave-traders were able to steal. 

And yet at the Revolution slavery enjoyed no great degree 
of favor. The free spirit enkindled by the war was in vio- 
lent opposition to the existence of a system of bondage. 
Every^vhere in the North slavery was regarded as an objec- 
tionable and decaying institution. The leaders of the Revo- 
lution, thernselves mainly slave-owners, were eagerly desirous 



1776. opposition to Slavery. 345 

that slavery should be abolished. Washington was utterly 
opposed to the system, and provided in his will for the eman- 
cipation of his own slaves. Hamilton was a member of an 
association for the gradual abolition of slavery. John Adams 
would never own a slave. Franklin, Patrick Henry, Madison, 
Monroe, were united in their reprobation of slavery. Jeiferson, 
a Virginian, who prepared the Declaration of Independence, 
said that, in view of slavery, " he trembled for his country, 
when he reflected that God was just." 

In the convention which met to frame a Constitution for 
America the feeling of antagonism to slavery was supreme. 
Had the majority followed their own course, provision would 
have been made then for the gradual extinction of slavery. 
But there arose here a necessity for one of those compro- 
mises by which the history of America has been so sadly 
marked. When it was proposed to prohibit the importation 
of slaves, all the Northern and most of the Southern States 
favored the proposal. But South Carolina and Georgia were 
insatiable in their desire for African labor. They decisively 
refused to become parties to a union in which there was to be 
no importation of slaves. The other States yielded. Instead 
of an immediate abolition of this hateful traffic, it was agreed 
merely that after twenty years Congress would be at liberty to 
abolish the slave-trade if it chose. By the same threat of dis- 
union the slave States of the extreme South gained other 
advantages. It was at last enacted that a slave who fled 
to a free State was not therefore to become a free man. 
He must be given back to his owner. It was yet further con- 
ceded that the slave States should have increased political 
power in proportion to the number of their slaves. A black 
man did not count for so much as a white. Every State was 
to send members to the House of Representatives according 
to its population, and in reckoning that population five negroes 
were to be counted as three. 



346 Young Folks History of America. 

And yet at that time, and for years after, the opinion of the 
South itself regarded slavery as an evil, thrust upon them 
by England, difficult to be got rid of, profitable, it might be, 
but lamentable and temporary. No slave-holder refused 
to discuss the subject or admit the evils of the system. No 
violence was offered to those who denounced it. The clergy 
might venture to preach against it. Hopeful persons might 
foretell the approach of liberty to those unhappy captives. 
Even the lowest of the slave-holding class did not yet resent 
the expression of such hopes. 

But a mighty change was destined to pass upon the tone of 
Southern opinion. The purchase of Louisiana opened a vast 
tract of the most fertile land in the world to the growth of 
cotton. The growth of cotton became profitable. Slave- 
holding became lucrative. It was wealth to own a little plan- 
tation and a few negroes. There was an eager race for the 
possession of slaves. Importation alone could not supply the 
demand. Some of the more northerly of the Southern States 
turned their attention to the breeding of slaves for the South- 
ern markets. 

During many years the leader of the slave-owners was John 
C. Calhoun. He was a native of South Carolina, a tall, 
slender man, with an eye whose wondrous depth and power 
impressed all who came into his presence. Calhoun taught 
the people of the South that slavery was good for the slave. 
It was a benign, civilizing agency. The African attained to a 
measure of intelligence in slavery greatly in advance of that 
which he had ever reached as a free man. To him, visibly, 
it was a blessing to be enslaved. From all this it was easy to 
infer that Providence had appointed slavery for the advantage 
of both races ; that opposition to this heaven- ordained insti- 
tution was profane ; that abolition was merely an aspect of 
infidelity. So Calhoun taught. So the South learned to be- 
lieve. Calhoun's last speech in Congress warned the North 



1850. The Story of Slavery. 349 

that opposition to slavery would destroy the Union. His 
latest conversation was on this absorbing theme. A few hours 
after, he had passed to where all dimness of vision is removed, 
and errors of judgment become impossible ! 

It was very pleasant for the slave-owners to be taught that 
slavery enjoyed divine sanction. The doctrine had other 
apostles than Mr. Calhoun. Unhappily it came to form part 
of the regular pulpit teaching of the churches. It was gravely 
argued out from the Old Testament that slavery was the 
proper condition of the negro. Ham was to be the servant 
of his brethren. Hence all the descendants of Ham were the 
rightful property of white men. The slave who fled from his 
master was guilty of the crime of theft in one of its most hei- 
nous forms. So taught the pulpit. Many books, written by 
grave divines for the enforcement of these doctrines, remain 
to awaken the amazement of posterity. 

The slave- owners inclined a willing ear to these pleasing 
assurances. They knew slavery to be profitable. Their lead- 
ers in Church and State told them it was right. It was little 
wonder that a fanatical love for slavery possessed their hearts. 
In the susceptible, ease-loving minds of the slave-owning 
class, it became in course of years almost a madness, which 
was shared, unhappily, by the great mass of the white popula- 
tion. Discussion could no longer be permitted. It became 
a fearful risk to express in the South an opinion hostile to 
slavery. It was a familiar boast that no man who opposed 
slavery would be suffered to live in a slave State. And the 
slave-owners made their word good. Many suspected of hos- 
tile opinions were tarred and feathered and turned out of the 
State. Many were shot ; many were hanged ; some were 
burned. The Southern mobs were singularly brutal, and the 
slave-owners found willing hands to do their work. The 
law did not interfere to prevent or punish such atrocities. 
The churches looked on and held their peace. 



350 Young Folks' History of America. 

As slave property increased in value, a strangely horrible 
system of laws gathered around it. The slave was regarded 
not as a person, but as a thing. He had no civil rights ; nay, 
it was declared by the highest legal authority that a slave had 
no rights at all which a white man was bound to respect. The 
most sacred laws of nature were defied. Marriage was a tie 
which bound the slave only during the master's pleasure. A 
slave had no more legal authority over his child " than a cow 
has over her calf." It was a grave offence to teach a slave to 
read. A white man might expiate that offence by fine or im- 
prisonment ; to a black man it involved flogging. The owner 
might not without challenge murder an unoffending slave ; 
but a slave resisting his master's will might lawfully be slain. 
A slave who would not stand to be flogged might be shot as 
he ran off. The master was blameless if his slave died under 
the administration of reasonable correction, ^ in other words, 
if he flogged a slave to death. A fugitive slave might be 
killed by any means which his owner chose to employ. On 
the other hand, there was a slender pretext of laws for the 
protection of the slave. 

The practice of the South in regard to her slaves was not 
unworthy of her laws. Children were habitually torn away 
from their mothers. Husbands and wives were habitually 
separated and forced to contract new marriages. Public whip- 
ping-houses became an institution. The hunting of escaped 
slaves became a regular profession. Dogs were bred and 
trained for that special work. 

These things were done, and the Christian churches of the 
South were not ashamed to say that the system out of which 
they flowed enjoyed the sanction of God ! 

There were indeed good masters and mistresses in the 
South, who sympathized with their slaves and whom the slaves 
loved. There were plantations where Christian principles 
governed, — Acadias in this most beautiful of lands. But 



1792. 



The Story of the Cotton-Gin. 



351 



the death of one of these masters, and a transferrence of prop- 
erty, might change all this happiness and peace. The whole 
system was evil, and the conscientious portion of the slave- 
owners felt it to be so. 

THE STORY OF THE COTTON-GIN. 

In 1 768 Richard Arkwright invented a machine for spinning 
cotton vastly superior to any thing hitherto in use. Next 
year a greater than he, James Watt, announced a more won- 
derful invention, — his steam-engine. England was ready 
now to begin her great work of weaving cotton for the world. 
But where was the cotton to be found ? 




MULE-JENNY SPINNING-FRAME. 

Three or four years before Watt patented his engine, and 
Arkwright his spinning-frame, there was born in a New 
England farm-house a boy whose work was needed to com- 
plete theirs. His name was Eli Whitney. Eli was a born 
mechanic. It was a necessity of his nature to invent and 
construct. As a mere boy he made nails, pins, and walking- 



352 Young Folks' History of America. 



canes by novel processes, and thus earned money to support 
himself at college. In 1792 he went to Georgia to visit Mrs. 
Greene, the widow of that General Greene who so troubled 
Lord CornwalHs in the closing years of ,the war. In that 
primitive society, where few of the comforts of civilized life 
were yet enjoyed, no visits were so welcome to the South 

as those of a skilful me- 
chanic. EH construct- 
ed marvellous amuse- 
ments for Mrs. Greene's 
children. He overcame 
all household difficulties 
by some ingenious con- 
trivance. Mrs. Greene 
learned to wonder at 
him, and to believe noth- 
ing was impossible for 
him. One day Mrs. 
Greene entertained a 
party of her neighbors. 
The conversation turned 
upon the sorrows of the 
planter. That unhappy 
tenacity with which the 
fibre of cotton adhered 
to the seeds was elaborately explained. With an urgent 
demand from England for cotton, with boundless lands which 
grew nothing so well as cotton, it was hard tC) be so utterly 
baffled. 

Mrs. Greene had unlimited faith in her friend Eli. She 
begged him to invent a machine which should separate the 
seeds of cotton from the fibre. Whitney was of Northern birth, 
and had never even seen cotton in the seed. He walked 
in to Savannah, and there, with some trouble, obtained a 




COTTON PLANT. 



I7Q3. Invention of the Cotton-Gm. 353 

quantity of uncleaned cotton. He shut himself up in his 
room and brooded over the difficulty which he had under- 
taken to conquer. 

All that winter Eli labored, devising, hammering, build- 
ing up, rejecting, beginning afresh. He had no help. He 
could not even find tools to buy, but had to make them with 
his own hands. At length his machine was completed, rude- 
looking, but visibly effective. Mrs. Greene invited the lead- 
ing men of the State to her house. She conducted them in 
triumph to the building in which the machine stood. The 
owners of unprofitable cotton lands looked on with a flash 
of hope in their hearts. Possibilities of untold wealth to 
each of them lay in that clumsy structure. The machine 
was put in motion. It was evident to all that it could 
perform the work of hundreds of men. Eli had gained a 
great victory for mankind. In that rude log hut of Georgia, 
cotton was crowned King, and a new era opened for America 
and the world. 

Ten years after Whitney's cotton-gin was invented, a huge 
addition was made to the cotton-growing districts of* America. 
The territory of Louisiana, as we have stated, was purchased 
from France. 

When the State of Louisiana was received into the Union 
in 181 2, there was left out a large proportion of the original 
purchase from Napoleon. As yet this region was unpeopled. 

It lay silent and unprofitable, a vast reserve prepared for 
the wants of unborn generations. It was traversed by the 
Missouri River. The great Mississippi was its boundary on 
the east. It possessed, in all, a navigable river-line of two 
thousand miles. Enormous mineral wealth was treasured up 
to enrich the world for centuries to come. There were coal- 
fields greater than those of all Europe. There was iron 
piled up in mountains, one of which contained two hundred 

23 



354 Young Folks History of America. 

millions of tons of ore. There was profusion of copper, 
of zinc, of lead. There were boundless forests. There was 
a soil unsurpassed in fertility. The climate was kindly and 
genial, marred by neither the stern winters of the North nor 
the fierce heats of the South. The scenery was often of rare 
beauty and grandeur. 

This was the Territory of Missouri. Gradually settlers 
from the neighboring States arrived. Slave-holders came, 
bringing their chattels with them. They were first in the 
field, and they took secure possession. The free emigrant 
turned aside, and the slave-power reigned supreme in Mis- 
souri. The wealth and beauty of this glorious land were 
wedded to the most gigantic system of evil which ever 
established itself upon the earth. 

By the year 1818 there were sixty thousand persons residing 
in Missouri. The time had come for the admission of this 
Territory into the Union as a State. It was the first great 
contest between the free and the slave States. The cotton- 
gin, the acquisition of Louisiana, the teaching of Calhoun, had 
done their work. The slave-owners were now a great politi- 
cal power. The next half-century of American history takes 
its tone very much from their fierce and restless energy. 
Their policy never wavered. To gain predominance for 
slavery, with room for its indefinite expansion, was their 
aim. American history is filled with the controversy until 
a certain April morning in 1865, when the slave power lay 
crushed among the ruins of Richmond. 

When the application of Missouri for admission into the 
Union came to be considered in Congress, an attempt was 
made to shut slavery wholly out of the new State. A struggle 
ensued, which lasted for nearly three years. The question 
was one of vital importance. At this time the number of free 
States and the number of slave States were exactly equal. 
Whosoever gained Missouri gained a majority in the Senate. 



i82o. The Missouri Compromise. 355 

The North was deeply in earnest in desiring to prevent the 
extension of slavery. The South was equally resolute that no 
limitation should be imposed. The result was a compromise, 
proposed by the South. Missouri was to be given over to 
slavery. But it was agreed that, excepting within the limits 
of Missouri herself, slavery should not be permitted in any 
part of the territory purchased from France, north of a line 
drawn eastward and westward from the southern boundary of 
that State. Thus far might the waves of this foul tide flow, 
but no farther. So ended the great controversy, in the de- 
cisive victory of the South. 

In 181 7 Mr. Madison retired from office as President. 
He was succeeded by James Monroe. Daniel D. Tomkins 
was elected Vice-President. Mr. Monroe continued in 
office eight years. He was succeeded by John Quincy 
Adams in 1825. It was during Mr. Adams's administration 
that an active hostility to slavery began to be developed. 
Mr. Adams was succeeded by General Andrew Jackson, 
eight years in office (1829-1 83 7). John C. Calhoun was 
elected Vice-President, and served also eight years. 

The slavery question grew in prominence during these 
administrations. The North participated in the gains of 
slavery. The cotton planter borrowed money at high inter- 
est from the Northern capitalist. He bought his goods in 
Northern markets. He sent his cotton to the North for sale. 
The Northern merchants made money at his hands, and were 
in no haste to overthrow the peculiar institution out of which 
results so pleasant flowed. They had no occasion, as the 
planter had, to persuade themselves that slavery enjoyed 
special divine sanction. But it did become a very general 
belief in the North that without slave-labor the cultivation of 
Southern lands was impossible. It was also very generally 
alleged that the condition of the slave was preferable to that 
of the free European laborer. 



356 Young Folks History of America. 

All looked very hopeless for the poor negro. The South 
claimed to hold him by divine right. She looked to a future 
of indefinite expansion. The boundless regions which 
stretched away from her border, untrodden by man, were 
marked out for slave territory. A powerful sentiment in the 
North supported her claims. She was able to exercise a con- 
trolling influence over the Federal government. It seemed 
as if all authority in the Union was pledged to uphold slavery, 
and assert for ever the right of the white man to hold the 
black man as an article of merchandise. 

But even then the awakening of the Northern conscience 
had begun. On the ist of January, 183 1, a journeyman 
printer, WilHam Lloyd Garrison, published in Boston the first 
number of a paper devoted to the abohtion of slavery. This 
is perhaps the earliest prominent incident in the history of 
Emancipation. It was indeed a humble opening of a noble 
career. Garrison was young and penniless. He wrote the 
articles ; and he also, with the help of a friend, set the 
types. He lived mainly on bread and water. Only when 
a number of the paper sold particularly well, he and his 
companion indulged in a bowl of milk. The mayor of Bos- 
ton was asked by a Southern magistrate to suppress the paper. 
He repHed that it was not worth the trouble. The office 
of the editor w^as " an obscure hole ; his only visible auxiliary 
a negro boy ; his supporters a few insignificant persons of all 
colors." 

But the fulness of time had come, and every word spoken 
against slavery found now some willing listener. In the year 
after Garrison began his paper the American Antislavery 
Society was formed. It was composed of twelve members. 
Busy hands were scattering the seed abroad, and it sprang 
quickly. Within three years there were two hundred anti- 
slavery societies in America. In seven years more these had 
increased to two thousand. The war against slavery was now 
begun in earnest. 



1832. Antislavery Riots. 357 

The slave- owners and their allies in the North regarded 
with rage unutterable this formidable invasion. Everywhere 
they opposed violence to the arguments of their opponents. 
Large rewards were offered for the capture of prominent abo- 
litionists. Many Northern men, who unwarily strayed into 
Southern States, were murdered on the mere suspicion that 
they were opposed to slavery. President Jackson recom- 
mended Congress to forbid the conveyance to the South, by 
the mails, of antislavery publications. In Boston a mob of 
well-dressed and respectable citizens suppressed a meeting 
of female abolitionists. While busied about that enterprise, 
they were fortunate enough to lay hold of Garrison, whose 
murder they designed, and would have accomplished, had 
not a timely sally of the constables rescued him from their 
grasp. In Connecticut a young woman was imprisoned for 
teaching negro children to read. Philadelphia was disgraced 
by riots in which negroes were killed and their houses burned 
down. Throughout the Northern States antislavery meet- 
ings were invaded and broken up by the allies of the slave- 
owners. The abolitionists were devoured by a zeal which 
knew no bounds and permitted no rest. The slave-owners 
met them with a deep, remorseless hatred which gradually 
possessed and corroded their whole nature. In this war, as 
it soon became evident, there could be no compromise. 
Peace was impossible otherwise than by the destruction of 
one or other of the contending parties. 

The spirit in which the South defended her cherished insti- 
tution was fairly exemplified in her treatment of a young 
clergyman, Mr. Lovejoy, who offended her by his antipathy 
to slavery. Mr. Lovejoy established himself in Alton, a little 
town of Illinois, where he conducted a newspaper. Illinois 
was itself a free State ; but Missouri was near, and the slave- 
power was supreme in all that region. Mr. Lovejoy declared 
himself in his newspaper against slavery. He was requested 



358 Young Folks' History of America. 

to withdraw from that neighborhood j but he maintained his 
right of free speech, and chose to remain. The mob sacked 
his printing-office, and flung his press into the river. Mr. 
Lovejoy bought another press. The arrival of this new ma- 
chine highly displeased the ruffianism of the little town of 
Alton. It was stored for safety in a well-secured building, 
and two or three well-disposed citizens kept armed watch 
over it. The mob attacked the warehouse. Shots were ex- 
changed, and some of the rioters were slain. At length the 
mob succeeded in setting fire to the building. When Mr. 
Lovejoy showed himself to the crowd he was fired at, and 
fell pierced by five bullets. The printing-press was destroyed ; 
the newspaper was silenced ; the hostile editor was slaugh- 
tered. 

Lying between the Mississippi and the Rio Grande was a 
vast wilderness of undefined extent and uncertain ownership, 
which America, with some hesitation, recognized as belonging 
to Mexico. It was called Texas. The climate was genial ; 
the soil was of wondrous fertility. America coveted this fair 
region, and offered to buy it from Mexico. Her -offer was 
declined. 

The great natural wealth of Texas, combined with the 
almost total absence of government, were powerful attrac- 
tions to the adventurers who abounded in the South-western 
States. In a few years Texas felt herself strong enough to be 
independent. Her connection with Mexico was declared to 
be at an end. 

The leader in this revolution was Sam Houston, a Vir- 
ginian of massive frame, energetic, audacious, in no mean 
degree fitted to direct the storm he had helped to raise. 
Houston was ambitious to gain Texas for the purposes of 
slavery. Mexico had aboHshed slavery. Texas could be no 
home for the possessor of slaves till she was severed from 
Mexico. 



1836. 



Independence of Texas. 



361 



When independence was declared, Texas had to defend 
her newly claimed liberties by the sword. General Houston 
headed the patriot forces, not quite four hundred in number, 
and imperfectly armed. Santa Anna came against them with 
an army of five thousand. The Texans retreated, and having 
nothing to carry, easily distanced their pursuers. At the 
San Jacinto, Houston was strengthened by the arrival of two 
field-pieces. He turned like a lion upon the unexpectant 
Mexicans, whom he caught in the very act of crossing the 
river. He fired grape-shot into their quaking ranks. His 
unconquerable Texans clubbed their muskets, they had no 
bayonets, and rushed upon the foe. The Mexicans fled in 
helpless rout, and Texas was free. The grateful Texans 
elected General Houston President of the republic which he 
had thus saved. 

No sooner was Texas 
independent than she 
offered to join herself 
to the United States. 
Her proposals were at 
first declined. But 
the South warmly es- 
poused her cause and 
urged her claims. 
Once more North and 
South met in fiery de- 
bate. Slavery had al- 
ready a sure footing in 
Texas. . If Texas en- 
tered the Union it was 
as a slave State. On 
that ground avowedly 

the South urged the annexation. On that ground the North 
resisted it. " We all see," said Daniel Webster, " that Texas 




DANIEL WEBSTER. 



362 Young Folks' History of America. 

will be a slave-holding country ; and I frankly avow my un- 
willingness to do any thing which shall extend the slavery of 
the African race on this continent, or add another slave- 
holding State to the Union." " The South/' said the Legis- 
lature of Mississippi, speaking of slavery, " does not possess 
a blessing with which the affections of her people are so 
closely entwined, and whose value is more highly appreci- 
ated. By the annexation of Texas an equipoise of influence 
in the halls of Congress will be secured, which will furnish 
us a permanent guarantee of protection." 

The battle ended in Southern victory. In March, 1845, 
Texas was received into the Union. The slave-power gained 
new votes in Congress, and room for a vast extension of 
the slave-system. 

General Jackson was succeeded in the Presidential office 
by Martin Van Buren in 1837. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

MEXICO AND THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Turning from the peaceful and enlightened empire in the 
North, history next leads us into the dreamy lands of the 
sun. Mexico, with nearly ten million inhabitants, occupies 
the most luxuriant part of the continent, and yet with its 
glorious climate, natural wonders, rich mines, and teeming 
population, exercises but little influence on the thought, 
commerce, and common progress of the American world. 
The romantic age of Mexico faded with the Spanish Con- 
quest and the death of Montezuma. After the Conquest 
the country was for a long time governed by Spanish vice- 
roys. The nation seemed to lose its native spirit, and to 
wither under the influence of Spain. In 1824 Mexico 
declared her independence, and became a republic. 

Martin Van Buren, who began a long line of common- 
place Presidents of the United States, was succeeded by 
William Henry Harrison, a man of great promise, and a 
true patriot, but who died a few weeks after his inaugu- 
ration. John Tyler, who had been elected Vice-President, 
became President. He was succeeded in 1845 by James K. 
Polk of Tennessee. 

Mexico was displeased with the annexation of Texas, but 
did not manifest so quickly as it was hoped she would any 
disposition to avenge herself. A war with Mexico was a 
thing to be desired, because Mexico must be beaten, and 
could then be plundered of territory. To provoke Mexico 



364 



Young Folks History of America. 



the Unready, an army of four thousand men was sent to the 
extreme south-western confine of Texas. A Mexican army 
of six thousand lay near. The Americans, with marvellous 
audacity, erected a fort within easy range of Matamoras, a 
city of the Mexicans, and thus the city was in their power. 




GENERAL TAYLOR ON THE RIO GRANDE. 

After much hesitation the Mexican army attacked the 
Americans, and received, as they might well have antici- 
pated, a severe defeat. Thus, without the formality of any 
declaration, the war was begun. 

President Polk hastened to announce to Congress that the 



ijillpf'f''^l'1Jiil 

IIIIIIInj t ■[■ -^i 










'i 



















*:^|5S^ 



1846. , Mexico and the Mexican War. 367 

Mexicans had " invaded our territory, and shed the blood 
of our fellow-citizens." Congress voted men and money 
for the prosecution of the war. Volunteers offered them- 
selves in multitudes. Their brave httle army was in peril, — 
far from help and surrounded by enemies. The people 
were eager to support the heroes of whose victory they 
were so proud. And yet opinion was much divided. Many 
deemed the war unjust and disgraceful. Among these was 
a young lawyer of Illinois, destined in later years to fill a 
place in the hearts of his countrymen second only to that 
of Washington. Abraham Lincoln entered Congress while 
the war was in progress, and his first speech was in con- 
demnation of the course pursued by the government. 

The war was pushed with vigor at first under the com- 
mand of General Taylor, who was to become the next 
President ; and finally under General Scott, who as a very 
young man had fought against the British at Niagara, and 
as a very old man was commander-in-chief of the American 
army when the great war between North and South began. 
Many officers were there whose names became famous in 
after years. General Lee and General Grant gained here 
their first experiences of war. They were not then known 
to each other. They met for the first time, twenty years 
after, in a Virginian cottage, to arrange terms of surrender 
for the defeated army of the Southern Confederacy ! 

General Franklin Pierce, afterwards President, landed 
near Vera Cruz with a small force, and made his way, in 
spite of the continued opposition of the Mexicans, to a 
junction with the army under General Scott at Puebla, and 
the capture of the city of Mexico soon followed. 

The Americans resolved to fight their way to the enemy's 
capital, and there compel such a peace as would be agree- 
able to themselves. The task was not without difficulty. 
The Mexican army outnumbered the American. They had 



368 



Young Folks History of America. 



a splendid cavalry force and an efficient artillery. Their 
commander, Santa Anna, unscrupulous even for a Mexican, 
was yet a soldier of some ability. The Americans were 
mainly volunteers who had never seen war till now. The 
fighting was severe. At Buena-Vista the American army 




GENERAL PIERCE LANDING IN MEXICO. 

was attacked by a force which outnumbered it in the propor- 
tion of five to one. The battle lasted for ten hours, and the 
invaders were saved from ruin by their superior artillery. 
The mountain passes were strongly fortified, and General 
Scott had to convey his army across chasms and ravines 



i849« Gold Found in California. 371 

which the Mexicans, deeming them impracticable, had neg- 
lected to defend. Strong in the consciousness of their 
superiority to the people they invaded, — the same con- 
sciousness which supported Cortes and his Spaniards three 
centuries before, — the Americans pressed on. At length 
they came in sight of Mexico, at the same spot whence 
Cortes had viewed it. Once more they routed a Mexican 
army of greatly superior force, and then General Scott 
marched his little army of six thousand men quietly into the 
capital. The war was closed, and a treaty of peace was 
with little delay negotiated. 

The United States exacted mercilessly the penalty which 
usually attends defeat. Mexico was to receive fifteen 
millions of dollars ; but she ceded an enormous territory 
stretching westward from Texas to the Pacific. 

One of the provinces which composed this magnificent 
prize was California. The nation had gone to war with 
Mexico to gain territory which slavery should possess. It 
was intended to introduce California into the Union as a 
slave State, but Providence interposed. 

Just about the time that California became an American 
possession, it was discovered that her soil was richly endowed 
with gold. On one of the tributaries of the Sacramento 
River an old settler was peacefully digging a trench, — 
caring little, it may be supposed, about the change of citizen- 
ship which he had undergone, — not dreaming that the next 
stroke of his spade was to influence the history not merely 
of California but of the world. Among the sand which he 
lifted were certain shining particles. His wondering eye 
considered them with attention. They were gold ! Gold 
was everywhere, — in the soil, in the river sand, in the 
mountain-rock ; gold in dust, gold in pellets, gold in lumps ! 
It was the land of old fairy tale, where wealth could be had 
by him who chose to stoop down and gather ! 



372 



Yoimg Folks' History of America. 



Fast as the mails could carry it, the bewildering news 
thrilled the heart of America. To the energetic youth of 
the Northern States the charm was irresistible. It was now, 
indeed, a reproach to be poor, when it was so easy to be 
rich. 

The journey to the land of promise was full of toil and 
danger. There were over two thousand miles of unexplored 
wilderness to traverse. There were mountain ranges to 




GOLD DIGGING. 



surmount, lofty and rugged as the Alps themselves. There 
were great desolate plains, unwatered and without vegeta- 
tion. Indians, whose dispositions there was reason to 
question, beset the path. But danger was unconsidered. 
That season thirty thousand Americans crossed the 
plains, climbed the mountains, forded the streams, bore 
without shrinking all that want; exposure, and fatigue 
could inflict. Cholera broke out among them, and four 
thousand left their bones in the wilderness. The rest 



1850. The Fugitive Slave Law. 375 

plodded on undismayed. Fifty thousand came by sea. 
From all countries they came, — from quiet English villages, 
from the crowded cities of China. Before the year was out 
California had gained an addition of eighty thousand to 
her population. 

These came mainly from the Northern States. They 
had no thought of suffering in their new home the special 
institution of the South. They settled easily the Constitu- 
tion of their State, and California was received into the 
Union free from the taint of slavery. 

It was no slight disappointment to the men of the South. 
They had urged on the war with Mexico in order to gain 
new slave States, new votes in Congress, additional room 
for the spread of slavery. They had gained all the territory 
they hoped for, but this strange revelation of gold had peo- 
pled it from the North, and slavery was shut out for ever. 

As a kind of compromise or concession, Congress now 
passed the Fugitive Slave Law. Zachary Taylor was 
elected President in 1848. He died in the summer after his 
inauguration, and was succeeded by Vice-President Mil- 
lard Fillmore of New York. It was during Mr. Fillmore's 
administration that the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. 

Heretofore it had been lawful for the slave-owner to 
reclaim his slave who had escaped into a free State ; but, 
although lawful, it was in practice almost impossible. Now 
the officers of the government, and all good citizens, were 
commanded to give to the pursuer all needful help. In 
certain cases government was to defray the expense of 
restoring the slave to the plantation from which he had 
fled. In any trial arising under this law, the evidence of 
the slave himself was not to be received. The oath of his 
pursuer was almost decisive against him. The law was so 
unpopular that its execution was resisted in several North- 
ern cities, and it quickly passed into disuse. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

KANSAS AND JOHN BROWN. 

The great Louisiana purchase from Napoleon was not 
yet wholly portioned off into States. Westward and north- 
ward of Missouri was an enormous expanse of the richest 
land in the Union, having as yet few occupants more profit- 
able than the Indians. Two great routes of travel — to 
the West and to the South-west — traversed it. The eager 
searcher for gold passed that way on his long walk to Cali- 
fornia. The Mormon looked with indifference on its lux- 
uriant vegetation as he toiled on to his New Jerusalem by 
the Great Salt Lake. In the year 1853 it was proposed to 
organize this region into two Territories, under the names 
of Kansas and Nebraska. Here once more arose the old 
question. Shall the Territories be slave or free .? The 
Missouri Compromise had settled that slavery should never 
come here. But the slave-owners were able to cancel this 
settlement. A law was enacted under which the inhabi- 
tants were left to choose between slavery and freedom. 
The vote of a majority would decide the destiny of these 
magnificent provinces. 

And now both parties had to bestir themselves. The 
early inhabitants of the infant States were to fix for all 
timie whether they would admit or exclude the slave-owner 
with his victims. Every thing depended, therefore, on 
taking early possession. 

The South was first in the field. Missouri was near, 
and her citizens led the way. Great slave-owners took 



i853- Kansas and John Brown. 379 

possession of lands in Kansas, and invited their brethren 
from other States to come at once, bringing their slaves 
with them. But their numbers were small, while the need 
was urgent. The South had no population to spare fitted 
for the work of colonizing. 

The time came when elections were to take place in 
Kansas, when the great question of slave or free was 
to be answered. Gangs of armed men marched over 
from Missouri. Such a party, nearly a thousand strong, 
accompanied by two pieces of cannon, entered the little 
town of Lawrence on the morning of the election-day. The 
ballot-boxes were taken possession of, and the peaceful 
inhabitants were driven away. The invaders cast fictitious 
votes into the boxes, outnumbering ten or twenty times the 
lawful roll of voters. A Legislature wholly in the interest 
of slavery was thus elected. In due time that body began 
to enact laws. No man whose opinions were opposed to 
slavery was to be an elector in Kansas. Any man who 
spoke or wrote against slavery was to suffer imprisonment 
with hard labor. Death was the penalty for aiding the 
escape of a slave. All this was done while the enemies 
of slavery were an actual majority of the inhabitants of 
Kansas ! 

Then the Missourians on the border overran the coun- 
try, working their own will wherever they came. Men were 
gathered up from their work in the fields, ranged in line, 
and ruthlessly shot to death, because they hated slavery. 
A lawyer who had protested against frauds at an election 
was tarred and feathered. The town of Lawrence was 
attacked by eight hundred marauders, who plundered it to 
their content, bombarding with artillery houses which dis- 
pleased them, burning and destroying in utter wantonness. 

But during all this unhappy time a steady tide of North- 
ern emigration had flowed into Kansas. From the very 



380 Young Folks' History of America, 

outset of the strife, the North-was resolute to win Kansas 
for freedom. She sought to do this by colonizing Kansas 
with men who hated slavery. Societies were formed to aid 
poor emigrants. In single families, in groups of fifty to a 
hundred persons, the settlers were moved westward. Some 
of these merely obeyed the impulse which drives so many 
Americans to leave the settled States of the East and push 
out into the wilderness. Others went that their votes 
might prevent the spread of slavery. There was no small 
measure of patriotism in the movement. Men left their 
comfortable homes in the East and carried their families 
into a wiMerness, to the natural miseries of which was 
added the presence of bitter enemies. They did so that 
Kansas might be a free State. 

In a few years the party of freedom was able to carry the 
elections. A Constitution was adopted by which slavery 
was excluded from Kansas. And at length, just when the 
great final struggle between slavery and freedom was com- 
mencing, Kansas was received as a free State. Her 
admission raised the number of States in the Union to 
thirty-four. 

THE STORY OF JOHN BROWN. 

The opposition of the North to slavery was rapidly 
growing. In the eyes of some, slavery was an enormous 
sin, fitted to bring the curse of God upon the land. To 
others it was a political evil, marring the unity and hin- 
dering the progress of the country. To very many, on the 
one ground or the other, it was becoming hateful. Poli- 
ticians sought to delay by concessions the inevitable crisis. 
Simple men, guiding themselves by their conviction of the 
wickedness of slavery, were growing ever more vehement 
in their hatred of this evil thing. 




PIONEER LIFE IN THE WEST, 



i859' The Story of Johi Brown. 383 

John Brown was such a man. The blood of the Pilgrim 
Fathers flowed in his veins. The old Puritan spirit guided 
all his actions. From his boyhood he abhorred slavery. 
He was constrained by his duty to God and man to spend 
himself in this cause. There was no hope of advantage 
in it ; no desire for fame ; no thought at all for himself or 
for his children. He saw a huge wrong, and he could not 
help setting himself to resist it. He was powerless to influ- 
ence the councils of the nation. But he had the old Puritan 
aptitude for battle. He went to Kansas with his sons to 
help in the fight for freedom ; and while there was fighting 
to be done, John Brown was at the front. He was a leader 
among the free settlers, who felt his military superiority, and 
followed him with confidence in many a bloody skirmish. He 
retired habitually into deep solitudes to pray. He had morn- 
ing and evening prayers, in which all his followers joined. 
He would allow no man of immoral character in his camp. 
He believed that God directed him in visions ; that he was 
God's servant, and not man's. The work given him to do 
might be bitter to the flesh, but since it was God's work he 
dared not shrink from it. 

When the triumph of freedom was secured in Kansas, 
John Brown moved eastward to Virginia. He declared 
war against his country, in so far as the national support of 
slavery was concerned. He prepared a constitution and a 
semblance of government. He himself was the head of 
this singular organization. Associated with him were a sec- 
retary of state, a treasurer, and a secretary of war. Slavery, 
he stated, was a barbarous and unjustifiable war, carried 
on by one section of the community against another. 
His new government was for the defence of those whom 
the laws of the country wrongfully left undefended. He 
was joined by a few enthusiasts like-minded with himself. 
He laid up store of arms. He and his friends hung about 



384 Young Folks' History of America. 

plantations, and aided the escape of slaves to Canada. 
Occasionally the horses and cattle of the slave-owner were 
laid under contribution to support the costs of the cam- 
paign. Brown meditated war upon a somewhat extensive 
scale, and only waited the reinforcements of which he was 
assured, that he might proclaim liberty to all the captives 
in his neighborhood. But reason appeared for believing 
that his plans had been betrayed to the enemy, and Brown 
was hurried into measures which brought swift destruction 
upon himself and his followers. 

Harper's Ferry was a town of five thousand inhabitants, 
nestling amid steep and rugged mountains, where the Shen- 
andoah unites its waters with those of the Potomac. The 
national armory was here, and an arsenal in which were 
laid up enormous stores of arms and ammunition. Brown 
resolved to seize the arsenal. It was his hope that the 
slaves would hasten to his standard when the news of his 
success went abroad. And he seems to have reckoned 
that he would become strong enough to make terms with 
the government, or, at the worst, to secure the escape to 
Canada of his armed followers. 

One Sunday evening in October, he marched into Har- 
per's Ferry with a little army of twenty-two men, black 
and white, and easily possessed himself of the arsenal. 
He cut the telegraph wires. He stopped the trains which 
here cross the Potomac. He made prisoners of the work- 
men who came in the morning to resume their labors at the 
arsenal. His sentinels held the streets and bridges. The 
surprise was complete, and for a few hours his possession 
of the government works was undisputed. 

When at length the news of this amazing rebellion was 
suffered to escape, and America learned that old John 
Brown had invaded and conquered Harper's Ferry, the Vir- 
ginians, upon whom the affront fell most heavily, took 




BORDER SETTLERS. 



1856. Assault on Charles Sumner 387 

prompt measures to avenge it. By noon on Monday a 
force of militia-men surrounded the little town, to prevent 
the escape of those whom, as yet, they were not strong 
enough to capture. Before night fifteen hundred men were 
assembled. All that night Brown held his conquest. 
Nearly all his men were wounded or slain. His two sons 
were shot dead. Brown, standing beside their bodies, 
calmly exhorted his men to be firm, and sell their lives 
as dearly as possible. On Tuesday morning the soldiers 
forced an entrance, and Brown, with a sabre-cut in his 
head, and two bayonet-stabs in his body, was a prisoner. 
He was tried and condemned to die. Throughout his 
imprisonment, and even amid the horrors of the closing 
scene, his habitual serenity was undisturbed. 

To the enraged slave-owners John Brown was a detest- 
able rebel. To the abolitionists he was a martyr. To the 
historian he is a true, earnest, but most ill-judging man. 
His actions were unwise, unwarrantable ; but his aims were 
noble, his self-devotion was heroic. 

The divided feeling between the North and South 
increased in bitterness. The halls of Congress rang with 
antislavery and proslavery speeches, each of which added 
fuel to the fire of discord that had long been kindled. 

In the senate chamber one day a distinguished senator, 
Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, was bending over his 
desk busied in writing. He was the most eminent cham- 
pion of the antislavery cause, and his power as an orator 
gave him high rank as a pohtical leader. While this sena- 
tor was occupied with his writing, there walked up to him 
two men whom South Carolina deemed not unworthy to 
frame laws for a great people. One of them, a member of 
the House of Representatives, whose name was Brooks, 
carried a cane. With this weapon he struck many blows 



388 Young Folks History of America. 

upon the head of the senator, till his victim fell bleeding 
and senseless to the floor. For this outrage a trifling fine 
was imposed on Brooks. His constituents eagerly paid the 
amount. Brooks resigned his seat. He was immediately re- 
elected, and many handsome canes were bestowed upon him. 

Franklin Pierce had succeeded Mr. Fillmore as Presi- 
dent. Under Mr. Fillmore's administration the Fugitive 
Slave Bill had been passed. Under the administration of 
Mr. Pierce the Missouri Compromise had been repealed. 
Mr. Pierce was succeeded by Mr. Buchanan. Under his 
administration the troubles in Kansas had occurred, and 
the agitations on the question of slavery became violent 
and dangerous. 

The presidential election of i860 was a battle of argu- 
ments and principles. Never had an election taken place 
under circumstances so exciting. The North was thor- 
oughly aroused on the slave question. The time for com- 
promises was felt to have passed. It was a death-grapple 
between the two powers. Peaceful arrangement was hope- 
less. Each party had to put forth its strength and conquer 
or be crushed. 

The enemies of slavery announced it as their design to 
prevent slavery from extending to the Territories. They 
had no power to interfere in States where the system already 
existed. But the Territories, they said, belong to the 
Union. The proper condition of the Union is freedom. 
The slave States are merely exceptional. It is contrary 
to the Constitution to carry this irregularity where it does 
not already exist. 

The Territories, said the South, belong to the Union. 
All citizens of the Union are free to go there with their 
property. Slaves are property. Slavery may therefore be 
established in the Territories if slave-owners choose to 
settle there. 




PIONEER TRAVELLERS. 



i860. Election of Abraham Lincoln. 391 

On this issue battle was joined. The Northern party 
nominated Abraham Lincoln as their candidate. The 
Southerners, with their friends in the North — of whom 
there were many — divided their votes among three candi- 
dates. They were defeated, and Abraham Lincoln became 
President. 



CHAPTER XX. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The early period of great patriots seemed long to have 
passed away, but another period is rising ; Hampden is to 
visit the world again ; the spirit of Washington is to reappear ; 
America is to have her own Wilberforce, her William the 
Silent. 

We write from the standpoint of moral principle, from 
which all historic views backward or forward must be taken. 
Yet put yourself in the place of one of the Southern people of 
i860, and another view, a mistaken one it may be, will ap- 
pear. England left the South an inheritance of slaves ; 
Northern people for a half-century had upheld the right to 
continue that inheritance, and the Southern people had been 
born, bred, and educated in a state of society that to them 
was as natural as life. They had come to regard their planta- 
tions and slaves much as a feudal lord regarded his estates 
and retainers. For those who grew cruel, and sought to 
oppress their slaves, who tried to extend and strengthen a 
wrong, no apology can be offered. But England and the 
North were as greatly to blame as the South in the establish- 
ment and growth of slavery. Northern men and Southern 
men fell side by side when the prayers of the slave at last had 
entered into the ear of Heaven, and the great day of wrath 
came, with fire and blood and anguish. 

Mr. Lincoln was the son of a poor and not very prosperous 
fanner. He was born in 1 809 in the State of Kentucky ; but 




HOME OF A WESTERN PIONEER. 



1825. Abraham Lincoln. 395 

his youth was passed mainly in Indiana. His father had chosen 
to setde on the furthest verge of civilization. Around him 
was a dense illimitable forest, still wandered over by the In- 
dians. Here and there in the wilderness occurred a rude 
wooden hut like his own, — the abode of some rough settler, 
regardless of comfort and greedy of the excitements of pio- 
neering. The next neighbor was two miles away. There were 
no roads, no bridges, no inns. The traveller swam the rivers 
he had to cross, and trusted, not in vain, to the hospitality of 
the settlers for food and shelter. Now and then a clergyman 
passed that way, and from a hasty platform beneath a tree 
the gospel was preached to an eagerly listening audience of 
rugged woodsmen. Many years after, when he had grown 
wise and famous, Mr. Lincoln spoke, with tears in his eyes, of 
a well-remembered sermon which he had heard from a way- 
faring preacher in the great Indiana wilderness. Justice was 
administered under the shade of forest trees. The jury sat 
upon a log. The same tree which sheltered the court occa- 
sionally served as a gibbet for the criminal. 

In this society — rugged, but honest and kindly — the youth 
of the future President was passed. He had little schooling. 
Indeed, there was scarcely a school within reach, and if all 
the days of his school-time were added together they would 
scarcely make up one year. His father was poor, and Abra- 
ham was needed on the farm. There was timber to fell, there 
were fences to build, fields to plough, sowing and reaping to 
be done. Abraham led a busy life, and knew well, while yet 
a boy, what hard work meant. Like all boys who come to 
any thing great, he had a devouring thirst for knowledge. He 
borrowed all the books in his neighborhood, and read them 
by the blaze of the logs which his own axe had split. 

This was his early training. When he entered life for him- 
self it was as clerk in a small store. He served nearly a year 
there, conducting faithfully and cheerfully the lowly com- 



39^ Young Folks History of Ain erica. 

merce by which the wants of the settlers were supplied. 
Then he comes before us as a soldier, fighting a not very- 
bloody campaign against the Indians, who had undertaken, 
rather imprudently, to drive the white men out of that region. 
Having settled in Illinois, he commenced the study of law, 
supporting himself by land surveying during the unprofitable 
stages of that pursuit. Finally he applied himself to politics, 
and in 1834 was elected a member of the Legislature of Illinois. 

He was now in his twenty-fifth year ; of vast stature, some- 
what awkwardly fashioned, slender for his height, but uncom- 
monly muscular and enduring. He was of pleasant humor, 
ready and true insight. After such a boyhood as his, diffi- 
culty had no terrors for him, and he was incapable of defeat. 
His manners were very homely. His lank, ungainly figure, 
dressed in the native manufacture of the backwoods, would 
have spread dismay in a European drawing-room. He was 
smiled at even in the uncourtly Legislature of Illinois. But 
here, as elsewhere, whoever came into contact with Abraham 
Lincoln felt that he was a man destined to lead other men. 
Sagacious, penetrating, full of resource, and withal honest, 
kindly, conciliatory, his hands might be roughened by toil, his 
dress and ways might be those of the wilderness, yet was he 
quickly recognized as a born king of men. 

During the next twenty-six years Mr. Lincoln applied 
himself to the profession of the law. He was much in public 
life. He had part in all the pohtical controversies of his time. 
Chief among these were the troubles arising out of slavery. 
From his boyhood Mr. Lincoln was a steady enemy to slavery, 
as at once foolish and wrong. He would not interfere with 
it in the old States, for there the Constitution gave him no 
power ; but he would in no wise allow its establishment in 
the Territories. He desired a policy which " looked forward 
hopefully to the time when slavery, as a wrong, might come 
to an end." He gained in a very unusual degree the confi- 



i860. Disloyalty of the Southern States. 397 

dence of his party, who raised him to the presidential chair, 
as a true and capable representative of their principles in 
regard to the great slavery question. 

South Carolina was the least loyal to the Union of all the 
States. She estimated very highly her own dignity as a sov- 
ereign State. She held in small account the allegiance which 
she owed to the Federal government. Twenty-eight years 
before Congress had enacted a highly protective tariff. South 
Carolina, disapproving of this measure, decreed that it was 
not binding upon her. Should the Federal government 
attempt to enforce it, South Carolina announced her purpose 
of quitting the Union and becoming independent. General 
Jackson, who was then President, made ready to hold South 
Carolina to her duty by force ; but Congress modified the 
tariff, and so averted the danger. Jackson beheved firmly 
that the men who then held the destiny of South Carolina 
in their hands wished to secede. "The tariff," he said, "was 
but a pretext. The next will be the slavery question." 

The time predicted had now come, and South Carolina led 
her sister States into the dark and bloody path. A conven- 
tion of her people was promptly called, and on the 20th of 
December an ordinance was passed dissolving the Union, and 
declaring South Carohna a free and independent republic. 
When the ordinance was passed the bells of Charleston rang 
for joy, and the streets of the city resounded with the wild 
exulting shouts of an excited people. Dearly had the joy of 
those tumultuous hours to be paid for. Four years later, 
when Sherman quelled the heroic defence of the rebel city, 
Charleston lay in ruins. Her people, sorely diminished by war 
and famine, had been long familiar with the miseries which 
a strict blockade and a merciless bombardment can inflict. 

The example of South Carolina was at once followed by 
other discontented States. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, and Florida hastened to assert their independence, 



398 Young Folks History of America. 

and to league themselves into a new Confederacy. They 
adopted a Constitution, differing from the old mainly in these 
respects, — that it contained provisions against taxes to pro- 
tect any branch of industry, and gave effective securities for 
the permanence and extension of slavery. They elected 
Jefferson Davis President for six years. They possessed 
themselves of the government property within their own 
boundaries. It was not yet their opinion that the North 
would fight. 

After the government was formed, the Confederacy was 
joined by other slave States who at first had hesitated. 
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, 
after some delay, gave in their adhesion. The Confederacy, 
in its completed form, was composed of eleven States, with a 
population of nine millions ; six millions of whom were free, 
and three millions were slaves. Twenty-three States re- 
mained loyal to the Union. Their population amounted to 
twenty-two millions. 

It is not to be supposed that the free population of the 
seceding States were unanimous in their desire to break up 
the Union. On the contrary, there is good reason to believe 
that a majority of the people in several of the seceding States 
were all the time opposed to secession. In North Carolina 
the attempt to carry secession was at first defeated by the 
people. In the end, that State left the Union reluctantly, 
under the belief that not otherwise could it escape becoming 
the battle-ground of the contending powers. Thus, too, 
Virginia refused at first by large majorities to secede. In 
Georgia and Alabama the minorities against secession were 
large. In Louisiana twenty thousand votes were given for 
secession, and seventeen thousand against it. In many cases 
it required much intrigue and dexterity of management to 
obtain a favorable vote ; and the resolution to quit the 
Union was received in sorrow by very many of the Southern 




GOING TO COURT THROUGH WESTERN WOODS. 



i86i. Reasons for Secession. 401 

people. But everywhere in the South the idea prevailed that 
allegiance was due to the State rather than to the Federation. 
And thus it came to pass that when the authorities of a State 
resolved to abandon the Union, the citizens of that State felt 
constrained to secede, even while they mourned the course 
upon which they were forced to enter. 

It has been maintained by some defenders of the seceding 
States that slavery was not the cause of secession. On that 
question there can surely be no authority so good as that of 
the seceding States themselves. A declaration of the reasons 
which influenced their action was issued by several States, and 
acquiesced in by the others. South Carolina was the first to 
give reasons for her conduct. These reasons related wholly 
to slavery. No other cause of separation was hinted at. 
The Northern States, it was complained, would not restore 
runaway slaves. They assumed the right of " deciding on 
the propriety of our domestic institutions." They denounced 
slavery as sinful. They permitted the open establishment of 
antislavery societies. They aided the escape of slaves. 
They sought to exclude slavery from the Territories. Finally, 
they had elected to the office of President Abraham Lincoln, 
" a man whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery." 

Some of the American people had from the beginning held 
the opinion that any State could leave the Union at her 
pleasure. That belief was general in the South. The seced- 
ing States did not doubt that they had full legal right to take 
the step which they had taken. And they stated with perfect 
frankness what was their reason for exercising this right. 
They believed that slavery was endangered by their contin- 
uance in the Union. Strictly speaking, they fought in de- 
fence of their right to secede. But they had no other motive 
for seceding than that slavery should be preserved and ex- 
tended. The war which ensued was therefore really a war in 
defence of slavery. But for the Southern love for slavA-y and 

26 



402 Yotmg Folks History of America, 

the Northern antipathy to it, no war could have occurred. 
The men of the South attempted to break up the Union be- 
cause they thought slavery would be safer if the slave-owning 
States stood alone. The men of the North refused to allow 
the Union to be broken up. They did not go to war to put 
down slavery. They had no more right to put down slavery 
in the South than England has to put down slavery in Cuba. 
The Union which they loved was endangered, and they fought 
to defend the Union. 

Early in February Mr. Lincoln left his home in Illinois on 
his way to Washington. His neighbors accompanied him 
to the railroad depot, where he spoke a few parting words to 
them. '' I know not," he said, " how soon I shall see you 
again. A duty devolves upon me, which is, perhaps, greater 
than that which has devolved upon any other man since the 
days of Washington. He never would have succeeded ex- 
cept for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all 
times rehed. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same 
divine aid which sustained him, and on the same Almighty 
Being I place my reliance for support ; and I hope you, my 
friends, will all pray that I may receive that divine assistance 
without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is 
certain." 

With these grave, devout words he took his leave, and 
passed on to the fulfilment of his heavy task. His inaugura- 
tion took place as usual on the 4th of March. A huge 
crowd assembled around the Capitol. Mr. Lincoln had thus 
far kept silence as to the course he meditated in regard to the 
seceding States. Seldom had a revelation involving issues so 
momentous been waited for at the lips of any man. The 
anxious crowd stood so still that to its utmost verge the 
words of the speaker were distinctly heard. 

He assured the Southerners that their fears were un- 
founded. He had no lawful right to interfere with slavery in 



i86i. yefferson Davis. 403 

the States where it existed ; he had no purpose and no inclina- 
tion to interfere. He would, on the contrary, maintain them 
in the enjoyment of all the rights which the Constitution 
bestowed upon them. But he held that no State could quit 
the Union at pleasure. In view of the Constitution and the 
laws, the Union was unbroken. His poHcy would be framed 
upon that behef. He would continue to execute the laws 
within the seceding States, and would continue to possess 
Federal property there, with all the force at his command. 
That did not necessarily involve conflict or bloodshed. Gov- 
ernment would not assail the discontented States, but would 
suffer no invasion of its constitutional rights. With the 
South, therefore, it lay to decide whether there was to be 
peace or war. 

A week or two before Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, Jefferson 
Davis had entered upon his career as President of the Southern 
republic. Mr. Davis was an experienced politician. He had 
long advocated the right of an aggrieved State to leave the 
Union ; and he had largely contributed, by speech and by 
intrigue, to hasten the crisis which had now arrived. He was 
an accomplished man, a graceful writer, a fluent and persua- 
sive speaker. He was ambitious, resolute, and of ample ex- 
perience in the management of aflairs ; but he had many dis- 
qualifications for high office. His obstinacy was Wind and 
unreasoning. He had Httle knowledge of men, and could 
not distinguish " between an instrument and an obstacle." 

In his inaugural address Mr. Davis displayed a prudent 
reserve. Speaking for the world to hear, — a world which, 
upon the whole, abhorred slavery, — he did not name the 
grievances which rendered secession necessary. He main- 
tained the right of a discontented State to secede. The 
Union had ceased to answer the ends for which it was es- 
tablished ; and in the exercise of an undoubted right they 
had withdrawn from it. He hoped their late associates 



404 Young Folks History of America, 

would not incur the fearful responsibility of disturbing them 
in their pursuit of a separate political career. If so, it only 
remained for them to appeal to arms, and invoke the blessing 
of Providence on a just cause. 

Alexander H. Stephens was the Vice-President of the Con- 
federacy. His health was bad, and the expression of his 
face indicated habitual suffering. He had nevertheless been 
a laborious student, and a patient, if not a very wise, thinker 
on the great questions of his time. In the early days of 
secession he delivered at Savannah a speech which quickly 
became famous, and which retains its interest still as the 
most candid explanation of the motives and the expectations 
of the South. The old government, he said, was founded 
upon sand. It was founded upon the assumption of the 
equahty of races. Its authors entertained the mistaken belief 
that African slavery was wrong in principle. "Our new 
government," said the Vice-President, '' is founded upon ex- 
actly the opposite ideas ; its foundations are laid, its corner- 
stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal 
to the white man ; that slavery is his natural and normal con- 
dition." Why the Creator had made him so could not be 
told. " It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His 
ordinances, or to question them." 

It is a very curious but perfectly authenticated fact that, 
notwithstanding the pains taken by Southern leaders to show 
that they seceded merely to preserve and maintain slavery, 
there were many intelligent men in England who steadfastly 
maintained that slavery had little or nothing to do with the 
origin of the Great War. 



^ 








CHAPTER XXI. 

WAR. 

When his inaugural address was delivered, Mr. Lincoln 
was escorted by his predecessor in office back to the 
White House, where they parted, Buchanan to retire into a 
kindly oblivion, Lincoln to begin that great work which had 
devolved upon him. During all that month of March, and 
on to the middle of April, the world heard very little of the 
new President. He was seldom seen in Washington. It 
was rumored that intense meditation upon the great prob- 
lem had. made him ill. It was asserted that he endured 
the pains of indecision. In the Senate attempts were 
made to draw forth from him a confession of his pur- 
poses, if, indeed, he had any purposes. But the grim 
silence was unbroken. The South persuaded herself that 
he was afraid, that the peace-loving, money-making North 
had no heart for fight. She was even able to believe that 
some of the Northern States would ultimately adopt her 
doctrines and join themselves to her government. Even 
in the North there was a general indisposition to believe 
in war. The South had so often threatened, and been so 
often soothed by fresh concessions, it was difficult to 
believe now that she meant any thing more than to estab- 
lish a position for advantageous negotiation. All over the 
world men waited in anxious suspense for the revelation 
of President Lincoln's policy. Mercantile enterprise lan- 
guished. Till the occupant of the White House chose to 



4o8 Yomig Folks' History of America. 

open his lips, and say whether it was peace or war, the 
business of the world must be content to stand still. 

Mr. Lincoln's silence was not the result of irresolution. 
He had doubt as to what the South would do. He had no 
doubt as to what he himself would do. He would main- 
tain the Union, — by friendly arrangement and concession, 
if that were possible, if not, by war fought out to the bitter 
end. 

He nominated the members of his Cabinet, most promi- 
nent among whom was William H. Seward, his Secretary 
of State. Mr. Seward had been during all his public 
life a determined enemy to slavery. He was in full sym- 
pathy with the President as to the course which had to 
be pursued. His acute and vigorous intellect, and great 
experience in public affairs, fitted him for the high duties 
which he was called to discharge. 

So soon as Mr. Lincoln entered upon his office, the 
Southern government sent ambassadors to him as to a 
foreign power. These gentlemen formally intimated that 
the six States had withdrawn from the Union, and now 
formed an independent nation. They desired to solve 
peaceably all the questions growing out of this separation, 
and they desired an interview with the President, that they 
might enter upon the business to which they had been 
appointed. 

Mr. Seward replied to the communication of the South- 
ern envoys. His letter was framed with much care, as its 
high importance demanded. It was calm and gentle in its 
tone, but most clear and decisive. He could not recognize 
the events which had recently occurred as a rightful and 
accomplished revolution, but rather as a series of unjusti- 
fiable aggressions. He could not recognize the new govern- 
ment as a government at all. He could not recognize or 
hold official intercourse with its agents. The President 




ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER. 



i86i. Attack on Fort Sunnier. 41 1 

could not receive them or admit them to any communica- 
tion. Within the unimpassioned words of Mr. Seward 
there breathed the fixed, unalterable purpose of the North- 
ern people, against which, as many persons even then felt, 
the impetuous South might indeed dash herself to pieces, 
but could by no possibility prevail. The baffled ambas- 
sadors went home, and the angry South quickened her 
preparations for war. 

Within the bay of Charleston, and intended for the 
defence of that important city, stood Fort Sumter, a work 
of considerable strength, and capable, if adequately gar- 
risoned, of a prolonged defence. It was not so garrisoned, 
however, when the troubles began. It was held by Major 
Anderson with a force of seventy men, imperfectly pro- 
visioned. The Confederates wished to possess themselves 
of Fort Sumter, and hoped at one time to effect their 
object peaceably. When that hope failed them, they cut 
off Major Anderson's supply of provisions, and quietly 
began to encircle him with batteries. For some time they 
waited till hunger should compel the surrender of the fort. 
But word was brought to them that President Lincoln was 
sending ships with provisions. Fort Sumter was promptly 
summoned to surrender. Major Anderson offered to go in 
three days if not relieved. In reply he received intimation 
that in one hour the bombardment would open. 

About daybreak on the 12th the stillness of Charleston 
bay was disturbed by the firing of a large mortar, and the 
shriek of a shell as it rushed through the air. The 
shell burst over Fort Sumter, and the war of the Great 
Rebellion was begun. The other batteries by which the 
doomed fortress was surrounded quickly followed, and in 
a few minutes fifty guns of the largest size flung shot and 
shell into the works. The guns were admirably served,' 
and every shot told. The garrison had neither provisions 



412 Yowig Folks' History of America, 

nor an adequate supply of ammunition. They were seventy, 
and their assailants were seven thousand. All they could 
do was to offer such resistance as honor demanded. Hope 
of success there was none. 

The garrison did not reply at first to the hostile fire. 
They quietly breakfasted in the security of the bomb-proof 
casemates. Having finished their repast, they opened a 
comparatively feeble and ineffective fire. All that day and 
the next Confederate batteries rained shell and red-hot 
shot into the fort. The wooden barracks caught fire, and 
the men were nearly suffocated by the smoke. Barrels of 
gunpowder had to be rolled through the flames into the 
sea. The last cartridge had been loaded into the guns. 
The last biscuit had been eaten. Huge clefts yawned in 
the crumbling walls. Enough had been done for honor. 
To prolong the resistance was uselessly to endanger the 
lives of brave men. Major Anderson surrendered the 
ruined fortress, and marched out with the honors of war. 
Curiously enough, although heavy firing had continued 
during thirty-four hours, no man on either side was in- 
jured ! 

It was a natural mistake that South Carolina should 
deem the capture of Fort Sumter a glorious victory. The 
bells of Charleston chimed triumphantly all the day ; guns 
were fired ; the citizens were in the streets expressing with 
many oaths the rapture which this great success inspired, 
and their confident hope of triumphs equally decisive in 
time to come ; ministers gave thanks ; ladies waved hand- 
kerchiefs ; politicians quaffed potent draughts to the^ wel- 
fare of the Confederacy. On that bright April Sunday 
all was enthusiasm and boundless excitement in the city of 
Charleston. Alas for the vanity of human hopes ! There 
were days near at hand, and many of them too, when these 
rejoicing citizens should sit in hunger and sorrow and 



i86i. Feeling North and South. 413 

despair among the ruins of their city and the utter wreck 
of their fortunes and their trade. 

By many of the Southern people war was eagerly desired. 
The Confederacy was already established for some months, 
and yet it included only six States. There were eight other 
slave States, whose sympathies it was believed were with 
the seceders. These had been expected to join, but there 
proved to exist within them a loyalty to the Union suffi- 
ciently strong to delay their secession. Amid the excite- 
ments which war would enkindle, this loyalty, it was hoped, 
would disappear, and the hesitating States would be con- 
strained to join their fortunes to those of their more reso- 
lute sisters. The fall of Fort Sumter was more than a mili- 
tary triumph. It would more than double the strength of 
the Confederacy, and raise it at once to the rank of a great 
power. Everywhere in the South, therefore, there was a 
wild, exultant joy. And not without reason. Virginia, 
North CaroHna, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas now 
joined their sisters in secession. 

In the North, the hope had been tenaciously clung to 
that the peace of the country was not to be disturbed. 
This dream was rudely broken by the siege of Fort Sum- 
ter. The North awakened suddenly to the awful certainty 
that civil war was begun. There was a deep feeling of 
indignation at the traitors who were willing to' ruin their 
country that slavery might be secure. There was a full 
appreciation of the danger. There was an instant, univer- 
sal determination that, at whatever cost, the national life 
must be preserved. Personal sacrifice was unconsidered. 
Individual interests were merged in the general good. 
Political difference, ordinarily so bitter, was for the time 
almost effaced. Nothing was of interest but the question 
how this audacious rebelHon was to be suppressed, and the 
American nation upheld in the great place which it claimed 
among men. 



414 Young Folks History of America. 

Two days after the fall of Fort Sumter, Mr. Lincoln inti- 
mated by proclamation the dishonor done to the laws of 
the United States, and called out the militia to the extent 
of seventy-five thousand men. The free States responded 
enthusiastically to the call. 

So prompt was their action that, on the very next day, 
several companies arrived in Washington. Flushed by 
their easily won victory, the Southerners talked boastfully 
of seizing the capital. In a very short time there were 
fifty thousand loyal men ready to prevent that, and the 
safety of Washington was secured. 

Opposition was made to the passage of the Northern 
militia through Baltimore, and blood was shed in the streets 
of that city. 

The North pushed forward with boundless energy her 
warlike preparations. Her rich men offered money with 
so much liberality that in a few days nearly twenty-five 
million dollars had been contributed. The school teachers 
of Boston dedicated fixed proportions of their incomes to 
the support of the government while the war should last. 
All over the country the excited people gathered them- 
selves into crowded meetings, and breathed forth in fer- 
vid resolutions their determination to spend fortune and 
life in defence of the Union. Volunteer companies were 
rapidly formed. In the cities, ladies began to organize 
themselves for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers. 
It had been fabled that the North would not fight. With 
a fiery promptitude, unknown before in modern history, the 
people sprang to arms. 

Even yet there was on both sides a belief that the war 
would be a short one. The South, despising an adversary 
unpractised in war, and vainly trusting that the European 
Powers would interfere in order to secure their wonted 
supplies of cotton, expected that a few victories more would 




PASSING THROUGH BALTIMORE. 



i86i. Washington Threatened. 417 

bring peace. The North still regarded secession as little 
more than a gigantic riot, which she proposed to extinguish 
within ninety days. The truth was strangely different 
from the prevailing belief of the day. A high-spirited 
people, six millions in number, occupying a fertile terri- 
tory nearly a million square miles in extent, had risen 
against the government. The task undertaken by the 
North was to conquer this people, and by force of arms to 
bring them and their territory back to the Union. This 
was not likely to prove a work of easy accomplishment. 

When the North addressed herself to her task, her own 
capital was still threatened by the Confederates. Two or 
three miles down the Potomac, and full in view of Wash- 
ington, lies the old-fashioned decaying Virginian town of 
Alexandria, where the unfortunate Braddock had landed 
his troops a century before. The Confederate flag floated 
over Alexandria. A Confederate force was marching on 
Harper's Ferry, forty miles from Washington ; and as the 
government works there could not be defended they were 
burned. Preparations were being made to seize Arlington 
Heights, from which Washington could be easily shelled. 
At Manassas Junction, thirty miles away, a Confederate 
army lay encamped. It seemed to many foreign observers 
that the North might lay aside all thought of attack, and 
be well pleased if she succeeded in the defence of what 
was still left to her. 

But the Northern people, never doubting either their right 
or their strength, put their hand boldly to the work. The 
first thing to be done was to shut the Confederates in so that 
no help could reach them from the world outside. They 
could grow food enough, but they were a people who manu- 
factured little. They needed from Europe supplies of arms 
and ammunition, of clothing, of medicine. They needed 
money, which they could only get by sending away their 

27 



41 8 Young Folks History of America. 

cotton. To stop their intercourse with Europe was to 
inflict a blow which would itself prove almost fatal. Four 
days after the fall of- Fort Sumter, Mr. Lincoln announced 
the blockade of all the Confederate ports. It was a little 
time after till he had ships enough to make the blockade 
effective. But in a few weeks this was done, and every 
Southern port was closed. The grasp thus established was 
never relaxed. So long as the war lasted, the South ob- 
tained foreign supplies only from vessels which carried on 
the desperate trade of blockade-running. 

Virginia completed her secession on the 23d April. 
Next morning Federal troops seized and fortified Alexan- 
dria and the Arlington Heights. In the western portions 
of Virginia the people were so little in favor of secession 
that they wished to establish themselves as a separate 
State, loyal to the Union. With no very serious trouble 
the Confederates were driven out of this region, and West- 
ern Virginia was restored to the Union. Desperate at- 
tempts were made by the disloyal governor of Missouri to 
carry his State out of the Union, against the wish of a ma- 
jority of the people. It was found possible to defeat the 
efforts of the secessionists and retain Missouri. Through- 
out the war this State was grievously wasted by Southern 
raids, but she held fast her loyalty. 

Thus at the opening of the war substantial advantages 
had been gained by the North. They were not, however, 
of a sufficiently brilliant character fully to satisfy the ex- 
pectations of the excited people. A great battle must be 
won. Government, unwisely yielding to the pressure, 
ordered their imperfectly disciplined troops to advance 
and attack the rebels in their position at Manassas Junc- 
tion. 

General Beauregard lay at Manassas with a Confederate 
force variously estimated at from thirty to forty thousand 



i86i. Battle of Bull Run, 419 

men. In front of his position ran the little stream of Bull 
Run, in a narrow, wooded valley, the ground rising on either 
side into " bluffs," crowned with frequent patches of dense 
wood. General McDowell moved to attack him, with an 
army about equal in strength. It was early Sunday morn- 
ing when the army set out from its quarters at Centreville. 
The march was not over ten miles, but the day was hot, 
and the men not yet inured to hardship. It was ten 
o'clock when the battle fairly opened. From the heights 
on the northern bank of the stream the Federal artillery 
played upon the enemy. The Southern line stretched well- 
nigh ten miles. McDowell hoped by striking with an over- 
whelming force at a point on the enemy's right, to roll back 
his entire line in confusion. Heavy masses of infantry 
forded the stream and began the attack. The Southerners 
fought, bravely and skilfully, but at the point of attack they 
were inferior in number, and they were driven back. The 
battle spread away far among the woods, and soon every 
copse held its group of slain and wounded men. By three 
o'clock the Federals reckoned the battle as good as won. 
The enemy, though still fighting, was falling back. But at 
that hour a railway train ran close up to the field of battle 
with fifteen thousand Confederates, fresh and eager for the 
fray. This new force was hurried into action. The wearied 
Federals could not endure the vehemence of the attack. 
They broke and fled down the hill-side. With inexperienced 
troops a measured and orderly retreat is impossible. De- 
feat is quickly followed by panic. The men who had fought 
so bravely all the day now hurried in wild confusion from 
the field. The road was choked with a tangled mass of 
baggage-wagons, artillery, soldiers, and civilians frenzied 
by fear, and cavalry riding wildly through the quaking mob. 
But the Confederates attempted no pursuit, and the panic 
passed away. Scarcely an attempt, however, was made to 



420 Young Folks History of America. 

stop the flight. Order was not restored till the worn-out 
men made their way back to Washington. 

This was the first great battle of the war, and its results 
were of prodigious importance. By the sanguine men of 
the South it was hailed as decisive of their final success. 
President Davis counted upon the immediate recognition 
of the Confederacy by the great Powers of Europe as now 
certain. The newspapers accepted it as a settled truth 
that "one Southerner was equal to five Yankees." In- 
trigues began for the succession to the presidential chair, 
six years hence. A controversy arose among the States 
as to the location of the capital. The success of the Con- 
federacy was regarded as a thing beyond doubt. Enlist- 
ment languished. It was scarcely worth while to undergo 
the inconvenience of fighting for a cause which was already 
triumphant. 

The defeat at Manassas taught the people of the North 
that the task they had undertaken was a heavier one than 
they supposed. But it did not shake their steady purpose' 
to perform it. On the day after the battle, while the 
routed army was swarming into Washington, Congress 
voted five hundred millions of dollars and called for half a 
million of volunteers. A few days later, Congress unani- 
" mously resolved that the suppression of the Rebellion was 
a sacred duty, from the performance of which no disaster 
should discourage ; to which they pledged the employment 
of every resource, national and individual. " Having 
chosen our course," said Mr. Lincoln, "without guile and 
with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go 
forward without fear and with manly hearts." The spirit 
of the North rose as the greatness of the enterprise became 
apparent. No thought was there of any other issue from 
the national agony than the overthrow of the national foe. 
The youth of the country crowded into the ranks. The 



i86i. Enlistments at the North. 421 

patriotic impulse possessed rich and poor alike. The sons 
of wealthy men shouldered a musket side by side with the 
penniless children of toil. Once, by some accident, the 
money which should have paid a New England regiment 
failed to arrive in time. A private in the regiment gave 
his check for a hundred thousand dollars, and the men 
were paid. The Christian churches yielded an earnest 
support to the war. In some western churches the men 
enlisted almost without exception. Occasionally their 
ministers accompanied them. Sabbath-school teachers 
and members of Young Men's Christian Associations were 
remarkable for the eagerness with which they obeyed the 
call of their country. It was no longer a short war and 
an easy victory which the North anticipated. The gigantic 
character of the struggle was at length recognized ; and 
the North, chastened but undismayed, made preparations 
for a contest on the issue of which her existence depended. 
General McDowell had led the Northern army to a de- 
feat, which naturally shook public confidence in his abihty 
to command. A new general was indispensable. When 
the war broke out, a young man, George B. McClellan 
by name, was resident in Cincinnati, peacefully occupied 
with the management of a railroad. He was trained at 
West Point, and had some reputation for soldiership. He 
was skilful to construct and organize. His friends knew 
that he would mould into an army the enthusiastic levies 
which flowed in ; and also that, in obedience to the strong- 
est impulses of his nature, he would shrink from subjecting 
his army to the supreme test of battle. As a railway man, 
it was jocularly remarked to Mr. Lincoln by one who knew 
him, he was taught to avoid collisions. It was said he 
built bridges noticeable for their excellence, but could 
never without discomposure witness trains pass over them. 
This habitual caution, hitherto harmless, he was now to 



422 Young Folks History of America. 

carry into a position where it would be likely to inflict 
bitter disappointment upon a great people, and prolong the 
duration of the war. 

General McClellan was appointed to the command of 
the army a few days after the defeat at Bull Run. San- 
guine hopes were entertained that " the young Napoleon," 
as he was styled, would give the people victory over their 
enemies. He addressed himself at once to his task. From 
every State in the North men hastened to his standard. 
He disciplined them and perfected their equipment for the 
field. In October he was at the head of two hundred 
thousand men, — the largest army ever yet seen on the 
American continent. 

The Confederate government, which at first chose for its 
home the city of Montgomery in Alabama^, moved to Rich- 
mond so soon as Virginia gave in her reluctant adherence 
to the secession cause. Richmond, the gay capital of the 
Old Dominion, sits queen-like upon a lofty plateau, with 
deep valleys flanking her on east and west, and the James 
River rushing past far below upon the south, not many 
miles from the point where the pioneers of the colony had 
established themselves two centuries and a half ago. To 
Washington the distance is only one hundred and thirty 
miles. The warring governments were within a few hours' 
journey of each other. ' 

The supreme command of the rebel forces was commit- 
ted to General Robert E. Lee, one of the greatest of mod- 
ern soldiers. He was a calm, thoughtful, unpretending 
man, whose goodness gained for him universal love. He 
was opposed to secession, but believing, like the rest, that 
he owed allegiance wholly to his own State, he seceded 
with Virginia. It was his difficult task to contend nearly 
always with forces stronger than his own, and to eke out 
by his own skill and genius the scanty resources of the 



i86i. " Stonewair yackson. 423 

Confederacy. His consummate ability maintained the war 
long after all hope of success was gone; and when at 
length he laid down his arms, even the country against 
which he had fought was proud of her erring but noble 
son. 

Thomas Jackson — better known as " Stonewall " Jack- 
son — was the most famous of Lee's generals. In him 
we have a strange evidence of the influence which slavery 
exerts upon the best of men. He was of truly heroic 
mould, brave, generous, devout. His military perception 
was unerring; his decision swift as lightning. He rose 
early in the morning to read the Scriptures and pray. He 
gave a tenth part of his income for religious uses. He 
taught a Sunday class of negro children. He delivered 
lectures on the authenticity of Scripture. When he dropped 
a letter into the post-office, he prayed for a blessing on the 
person to whom it was addressed. As his soldiers marched 
past his erect, unmoving figure, to meet the enemy, they 
saw his lips move, and knew that their leader was praying 
for them to Him who " covereth the head in the day of 
battle." And yet this good man caused his negroes, male 
and female, to be flogged when he judged that severity 
needful. And yet he recommended that the South should 
"take no prisoners," — in other words, that enemies who 
had ceased to resist should be massacred. To the end of 
his life he remained of opinion that the rejection of this 
policy was a mistake. So fatally do the noblest minds 
become tainted by the associations of slave society. 

During the autumn and early winter of 1861 the weather 
was unusually fine, and the roads were consequently in 
excellent condition for the march of an army. The rebel 
forces were scattered about Virginia, some of them within 
sight of Washington. Around Richmond it was understood 
there were few troops. It seemed easy for McClellan, with 



424 Young Folks' Histo7y of America. 

his magnificent army, to trample down any slight resistance 
which could be offered, and march into the rebel capital. 
For many weeks the people and the government waited 
patiently. They had been too hasty before. They would 
not again urge their general prematurely into battle. But 
the months of autumn passed, and no blow was struck. 
Winter was upon them, and still "all was quiet on the 
Potomac." McClellan, in a series of brilliant reviews, pre- 
sented his splendid army to the admiration of his country- 
men j but he was not yet ready to fight. The country bore 
the delay for six months. Then it could be endured no 
longer, and in January Mr. Lincoln issued a peremptory 
order that a movement against the enemy should be made. 
McClellan had now laid upon him the necessity to do 
something. He formed a plan of operations, and by the 
end of March was ready to begin his work. 

South-eastward from Richmond the James and the York 
Rivers fall into the Potomac at a distance from each other 
of some twenty miles. The course of the rivers is nearly 
parallel, and the region between them is known as the 
Peninsula. McClellan conveyed his army down the Poto- 
mac, landed at Fortress Monroe, and prepared to march 
upon Richmond by way of the Peninsula. 

Before him lay the little town of Yorktown, where, eighty 
years before, the War of Independence was closed by the 
surrender of the English army. Yorktown was held by eleven 
thousand rebels. McClellan had over one hundred thousand 
well-disciplined men eager for battle. He dared not assault 
the place, and he lost a month and many lives in digging 
trenches and erecting batteries that he might formally 
besiege Yorktown. The Confederates waited till he was 
ready to open his batteries, and then quietly marched away. 
McClellan telegraphed to the President that he had gained 
a brilliant success. 



i862. General McClellati s Failure, 425 

And then McClellan crept slowly up the Peninsula. In 
six weeks he was within a few miles of Richmond, and in 
front of the forces which the Confederates had been actively 
collecting for the defence of their capital. His army was 
eager to fight. Lincoln never ceased to urge him to active 
measures. McClellan was immovable. He complained of 
the weather. He was the victim of " an abnormal season." 
He telegraphed for more troops. He wrote interminable 
letters upon the condition of the country j but he would 
not fight. The emboldened rebels attacked him. The dis- 
heartened general thought himself outnumbered, and pre- 
pared to retreat. He would retire to the James River and be 
safe under the protection of the gunboats. He doubted 
whether he might not be overwhelmed as he withdrew. If 
he could not save his army, he would " at least die with it, 
and share its fate." 

Under the influence of such feelings McClellan moved 
away from the presence of a greatly inferior enemy, the 
splendid army of the North burning with shame and indig- 
nation. The rebels dashed at his retreating ranks. His 
march to the James River occupied seven days. On every 
day there was a battle. Nearly always the Federals had 
the advantage in the fight. Always after the fight they 
resumed their retreat. Once they drove back the enemy, 
inflicting upon him a crushing defeat. Their hopes rose with 
success, and they demanded to be led back to Richmond. 
Nothing is more certain than that at that moment, as 
indeed during the whole campaign, the rebel capital lay 
within McClellan 's grasp. The hour had come, but not the 
man. The army was strong enough for its task, but the 
general was too weak. McClellan shunned the great enter- 
prise which opened before him, and never rested from his 
inglorious march till he lay in safety, sheltered by the gun- 
boats on the James River. He had lost fifteen thousand 



426 Young Folks History of Aine^'ica. 

men ; but the Confederates had suffered even more. It 
was said that the retreat was skilfully conducted, but the 
American people were in no humor to appreciate the 
merits of a chief who was great only in flight. Their dis- 
appointment was intense. The Southern leaders devoutly 
announced " undying gratitude to God " for their great 
success, and looked forward with increasing confidence to 
their final triumph over an enemy whose assaults it 
seemed so easy to repulse. 

Nor was this the only success which crowned the Con- 
federate arms. The most remarkable battle of the war was 
fought while the President was vainly endeavoring to rouse 
McClellan to heroic deeds ; and it ended in a Confederate 
victory. 

At the very beginning of the war the Confederates 
bethought them of an iron-clad ship-of-war. They took 
hold of an old frigate which the Federals had sunk in 
the James River. They sheathed her in iron plates. They 
roofed her with iron rails. At her prow, beneath the 
water-line, they fitted an iron-clad projection, which might 
be driven into the side of an adversary. They armed her 
with ten guns of large size. 

The mechanical resources of the Confederacy were 
defective, and this novel structure was eight months in 
preparation. One morning in March she steamed slowly 
down the James River, attended by five small vessels of the 
ordinary sort. A powerful Northern fleet lay guarding the 
mouth of the river. The Virginia, as the iron-clad had 
been named, came straight towards the hostile ships. She 
fired no shot. No man showed himself upon her deck. 
The Federals assailed her with well-aimed discharges. 
The shot bounded harmless from her sides. She steered 
for the Cumberland, into whose timbers she struck her 
armed prow. A huge cleft opened in the Cumberland's 



1 862. The Monitor and the Virginia. 427 

side, and the gallant ship went down with a hundred men 
of her crew on board. The Virginia next attacked the 
Federal ship Congress. At a distance of two hundred 
yards she opened her guns upon this ill-fated vessel. The 
Congress was aground, and could offer no effective resist- 
ance. After sustaining heavy loss, she was forced to 
surrender. Night approached, and the Virginia drew off, 
intending to resume her work on the morrow. 

Early next morning — a bright Sunday morning — she 
steamed out, and made for the Minnesota, a Federal ship 
which had been grounded to get beyond her reach. The 
Minnesota was still aground and helpless. Beside her, 
however, as the men on board the Virginia observed, lay a 
mysterious structure, resembling nothing they had ever seen 
before. Her deck was scarcely visible above the water, and 
it supported nothing but an iron turret nine feet high. This 
was the Monitor, designed by Captain Ericsson ; the first of 
the class of iron-clad turret-ships, which are destined, prob- 
ably, to be the fighting-ships of the future, so long as the 
world is foolish enough to need ships for fighting purposes. 
By a singular chance she had arrived thus opportunely. 
The two iron-clads measured their strength in combat. But 
their shot produced no impression, and after two hours of 
heavy but ineffective firing, they separated, and the Virginia 
retired up the James River. 

This fight opened a new era in naval warfare. The 
Washington government hastened to build turret-ships. 
All European governments, perceiving the worthlessness 
of ships of the old type, proceeded to reconstruct their 
navies according to the light which the action of the Vir- 
ginia and the Monitor afforded them. 

The efforts of the North to crush the Confederate forces 
in Virginia had signally failed. But military operations were 
not confined to Virginia. In this war the battle-field was the 



428 Young Folks History of America. 

continent. Many hundreds of miles from the scene of 
McClellan's feeble efforts^ the banner of the Union, held 
in manlier hands, was advancing into the revolted territory. 
The North sought to occupy the border States, and to repos- 
sess the line of the Mississippi, thus severing Texas, Louis- 
iana, and Arkansas from the other members of the secession 
enterprise, and perfecting the blockade which was now 
effectively maintained on the Atlantic coast. There were 
troops enough for these vast operations. By the ist of 
December, 1861, six hundred and forty thousand men had 
enrolled themselves for the war. The North, thoroughly 
aroused now, had armed and drilled these enormous hosts. 
Her foundries worked night and day, moulding cannon and 
mortars. Her own resources could not produce with suffi- 
cient rapidity the gunboats which she needed to assert her 
supremacy on the western waters, but she obtained help 
from the building yards of Europe. All that wealth and 
energy could do was done. While the Confederates were 
supinely trusting to the difficulties of the country and the 
personal prowess of their soldiers, the North massed forces 
which nothing on the continent could long resist. In the 
South and West results were achieved not unworthy of these 
vast preparations. 

During the autumn a strong fleet was sent southward to 
the Carolina coast. Overcoming with ease the slight 
resistance which the rebel forts were able to offer, the expe- 
dition possessed itself of Port Royal, and thus commanded 
a large tract of Confederate territory. It was a cotton-grow- 
ing district, worked wholly by slaves. The owners fled, but 
the slaves remained. The first experiment was made here 
to prove whether the negro would labor when the lash did 
not compel. The results were most encouraging. The 
negroes worked cheerfully and patiently, and many of 



i862. Victories South and West. 429 

them became rich from the easy gains of labor on that 
rich soil. 

In the West the war was pushed vigorously and with suc- 
cess. To General Grant, a strong, tenacious, silent man, 
destined ere long to be commander-in-chief and President 
was assigned the work of driving the rebels out of Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. His gunboats ran up the great 
rivers of these States and took effective part in the battles 
which were fought. The rebels were forced southward, till 
in the spring of 1862 the frontier line of rebel territory no 
longer enclosed Kentucky. Even Tennessee was held with 
a loosened and uncertain grasp. 

In Arkansas, be3^ond the Mississippi, was fought the 
battle of Pea Ridge, which stretched over three days, 
and in which the Confederates received a sharp defeat. 
Henceforth the rebels had no footing in Missouri or 
Arkansas. 

New Orleans fell in April. Admiral Farragut with a 
powerful fleet forced his way past the forts and gunboats, 
which composed the insufficient defence of the city. There 
was no army to resist them. He landed a small party of 
marines, who pulled down -the secession flag and restored 
that of the Union. The people looked on silently, while 
the city passed thus easily away for ever from Confederate 
rule. 

There was gloom in the Confederate capital as the 
tidings of these disasters came in. But the spirit of the 
people was unbroken, and the government was encouraged 
to adopt measures equal to the emergency. A law was 
enacted which placed at the disposal of the government 
every man between eighteen and thirty-five years of age. 
Enlistment for short terms was discontinued. Hence- 
forth the business of Southern men must be war. Every 



430 Young Folks History of America. 

man must hold himself at his country's call. This law 
yielded for a time an adequate supply of soldiers, and 
ushered in those splendid successes which cherished the 
delusive hope that the slave-power was to establish itself 
as one of the great powers of the world. 




CHAPTER XXII. 

LIBERTY TO THE SLAVE. 

The slave question, out of which the Rebellion sprang, 
presented for some time grave difficulties to the Northern 
government. As the Northern armies forced their way 
southward, escaped slaves flocked to them. These slaves 
were loyal subjects. Their owners were disloyal. Could the 
government recognize the right of its enemies to own loyal 
men ? Again, the labor of the slaves contributed to the sup- 
port of the Rebellion. Was it not a clear necessity of war 
that government should deprive the Rebellion of this support 
by freeing all the slaves whom its authority could reach? 
But, on the other hand, some of the slave States remained 
loyal. Over their slaves government had no power, and 
much care was needed that no measure should be adopted of 
which they could justly complain. 

The President had been all his life a steady foe to slavery. 
But he never forgot that, whatever his own feeling might be, 
he was strictly bound by law. His duty as President was not 
to destroy slavery, but to save the Union. When the time 
came to overthrow this system, he would do it with gladdened 
heart. Meanwhile he said, " If I could save the Union with- 
out freeing any slave, I would do it ; if I could save it by 
freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could save it 
by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do it." 

From the very beginning of the war, escaped slaves crowded 
within the Federal lines. They were willing to perform any 
labor, or to fight in a cause which they all knew to be their 



432 Young Folks History of America. 

own. But the North was not yet freed from her habitual 
tenderness for the old institutions. The negroes could not 
yet be armed. General McClellan pledged himself not only 
to avoid interference with slaves, but to crush with an iron 
hand any attempt at insurrection on their part. General 
Fremont, commanding in Missouri, issued an order which 
gave liberty to the slaves of persons who were fighting against 
the Union. The President, not yet deeming that measure 
indispensable, disallowed it. A little later it was proposed to 
arm the blacks. To that also the President objected. He 
would do nothing prematurely which might offend the loyal 
slave States, and so hinder the restoration of the Union. 

But in war opinion ripens fast. Men quickly learned, 
under that stern teacher, to reason that, as slavery had caused 
the Rebellion, slavery should be extinguished. Congress met 
in December, with ideas which pointed decisively towards 
Abolition. Measures were passed which marked a great 
era in the history of slavery. The slaves of men who were 
in arms against the government were declared to be free. 
Colored men might be armed and employed as soldiers. 
Slavery was abolished within the District of Columbia. Slav- 
ery was prohibited for ever within all the Territories. Every 
slave escaping to the Union armies was to be free. Wher- 
ever the authority of Congress could reach, slavery was now 
at an end. 

But something yet remained. Public sentiment in the 
North grew strong in favor of immediate and unconditional 
emancipation of all slaves within the revolted States. This 
view was pressed upon Lincoln. He hesitated; not from 
reluctance, but because he wished the public mind to be 
thoroughly made up before he took this decisive step. At 
length his course was resolved upon. He drew up a Procla- 
mation, which gave freedom to all the slaves of the rebel 
States. He called a meeting of his Cabinet, which cordially 



1863. Proclamation of Emancipation. 435 

sanctioned the measure. After New Year's Day of 1863 all 
persons held to slavery within the seceded territory were 
declared to be free. "And upon this act," — thus was the 
Proclamation closed, — " sincerely beheved to be an act of 
justice, warranted by the Constitution upon mihtary neces- 
sity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the 
gracious favor of Almighty God." 

This — one of the most memorable of all State papers — ■ 
gave freedom to over three millions of slaves. It did not 
touch slavery in the loyal States ; for there the President had 
no authority to interfere. But all men knew that it involved 
the abolition of slavery in the loyal as well as in the rebelhous 
States. Henceforth slavery became impossible on any por- 
tion of American territory. 

The deep significance of this great measure was most fully 
recognized by the Northern people. The churches gave 
thanks to God for this fulfilment of their long-cherished de- 
sire. Congress expressed its cordial approval. Innumerable 
public meetings resolved that the President's action deserved 
the support of the country. Bells pealed joyfully in the great 
cities and quiet villages of the East, and in the infant settle- 
ments of the distant West. Charles Sumner begged from 
the President the pen with which the Proclamation had been 
signed. The original draft of the document was afterwards 
sold for a large sum, at a fair held in Chicago for the benefit 
of the soldiers. 

The South, too, understood this transaction perfectly. It 
was the triumphant and final expression of that Northern 
abhorrence to slavery which had provoked the war. It made 
reconciliation impossible. President Davis said to his Con- 
gress that it would calm the fears of those who apprehended 
a restoration of the old Union. 

It is a painful reflection that the English government 
utterly misunderstood this measure. Its official utterance on 



436 Yoimg Folks History of America. 

the subject was a sneer. Earl Russell, the Foreign Secretary 
of that day, wrote to their ambassador at Washington that the 
Proclamation was "a measure of a very questionable kind." 
"It professes," he continued, "to emancipate slaves where 
the United States cannot make Emancipation a reality, but 
emancipates no one where the decree can be carried into 
effect." Thus imperfectly had Earl Russell yet been able to 
comprehend this memorable page of modern history. 

Circumstances that no human wisdom foresaw thus com- 
pelled Emancipation. When the slave in his cabin, or hunted 
in the swamps, had ten years before prayed for liberty and 
the freedom of his race, it seemed impossible that such a 
prayer could be answered. No poHtical prophet ever saw the 
opening of those doors of events that made his freedom a 
necessity to the life of the nation. The Red Sea opened as 
by the dividing hand of God. 

McClellan's failure disappointed but did not dishearten the 
Northern people. While McClellan was hastening away from 
Richmond the governors of seventeen States assured the 
President of the readiness of their people to furnish troops. 
The President issued a call for an additional three hundred 
thousand men ; and his call was promptly obeyed. 

McClellan lay for two months secure beside his gunboats 
on the James River. General Lee, rightly deeming that there 
was little to fear from an army so led, ranged northward with 
a strong force and threatened Washington. The Federal 
troops around the capital were greatly inferior in num- 
ber. President Lincoln summoned McClellan northward. 
McClellan was unready; and a small Federal army under 
General Pope was left to cope unaided with the enemy. 
Pope received a severe defeat at Manassas, and retired to 
the fortifications of Washington. 

General Lee was strong enough now to carry the war into 
Northern territory. He captured Harper's Ferry, and passed 



i862. Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. 439 

into Maryland. McClellan was at length stimulated to action, 
and having carried his troops northward, he attacked Lee 
at Antietam. The Northern army far outnumbered the 
enemy. The battle was long and bloody. When darkness 
sank down upon the wearied combatants no decisive advan- 
tage had been gained. McClellan's generals urged a renewal 
of the attack next morning. But this was not done, and 
General Lee crossed the Potomac and retired unmolested 
into Virginia. McClellan resumed his customary caution. 
The President ordered him to pursue the enemy and give 
battle. He even wished him to move on Richmond, which 
he was able to reach before Lee could possibly be there. In 
vain. McClellan could not move. His horses had sore 
tongues and sore backs ; they were lame ; they were broken 
down by fatigue. Lincoln had already been unduly patient. 
But the country would endure no more. General McClellan 
was removed from command of that army whose power he 
had so long been able to neutrahze ; and his place was taken 
by General Burnside. 

Burnside at once moved his army southward. It was not 
yet too late for a Virginian campaign. He reached the banks 
of the Rappahannock, beside the little town of Fredericks- 
burg. He had to wait there for many weary days till he 
obtained means to cross the river. While he lay, impatient. 
General Lee concentrated all the forces under his command 
upon the heights which rose steeply from the opposite bank 
of the stream. He threw up earthworks and strongly in- 
trenched his position. There he waited in calmness for the 
assault which he knew he could repel. 

When Burnside was able to cross the Rappahannock he 
lost no time in making his attack. One portion of his force 
would strike the enemy on his right flank \ the rest would 
push straight up the heights and assault him in front. A slight 
success in his flanking movement cheered General Burnside ; 



440 Young Folks History of America. 

but in the centre his troops advanced to the attack under a 
heavy fire of artillery which laid many brave men low. The 
Northern soldiers fought their way with steady courage up 
the height. They were superior in numbers, but the enemy 
fought in safety within a position which was impregnable. 
The battle was no fair trial of skill and courage, but a useless 
waste of brave lives. Burnside drew off his troops and re- 
crossed the Rappahannock, with a loss of twelve thousand men, 
vainly sacrificed in the attempt to perform an impossibility. 

In the West there had been no great success to counter- 
balance the long train of Confederate victories in the East. 
The year closed darkly upon the hopes of those who strove 
to preserve the Union. The South counted with certainty 
that her independence was secure. The prevailing opinion of 
Europe regarded the enterprise which the North pursued so 
resolutely, as a wild impossibility. But the Northern people 
and government never despaired of the Commonwealth. At 
the gloomiest period of the contest a bill was passed for the 
construction of a railroad to the Pacific. The Homestead 
Act offered a welcome to immigrants in the form of a free grant 
of one hundred and sixty acres of land to each. And the 
government, as with a quiet and unburdened mind, began to 
enlarge and adorn its Capitol on a scale worthy of the ex- 
pected greatness of the reunited country. 

The real hero of the war was now about to appear, the 
William the Silent of this struggle for liberty. 

The North had not yet established her supremacy upon 
the Mississippi. Two hostile strongholds, Vicksburg and 
Port Hudson, had successfully resisted Federal attack, and 
maintained communication between the revolted States on 
either side the great river. The reduction of these was 
indispensable. General Ulysses S. Grant was charged with 
the important enterprise, and proceeded in February to begin 
his work. 



1863. Siege of Vicksburg. 441 

Grant found himself with his army on the wrong side of the 
city. He was up the river from Vicksburg, and could not 
hope to win the place by attacks on that side. Nor could he 
easily convey his army and siege appliances through the 
swamps and lakes which stretched away behind the city. It 
seemed too hazardous to run his transports past the guns of 
Vicksburg. He attempted to cut a new channel for the river, 
along which he might convey his army safely. Weeks were 
spent in the vain attempt, and the country, which had not 
yet learned to trust in Grant, became impatient of the unpro- 
ductive toil. Grant, undismayed by the failure of his project, 
adopted a new and more hopeful scheme. He conveyed his 
soldiers across to the western bank of the Mississippi, and 
marched them southward till they were below Vicksburg. 
There they were ferried across the river ; and then they stood 
within reach of the weakest side of the city. The transports 
were ordered to run the batteries of Vicksburg and take the 
chances of that enterprise. 

-When Grant reached the position he sought he had a diffi- 
cult task before him. One large army held Vicksburg. An- 
other large army was gathering for the relief of the endangered 
fortress. Soon Grant lay between two armies which, united, 
greatly outnumbered his. But he had no intention that they 
should unite. He attacked them in detail. In every action 
he was successful. The Confederates were driven back upon 
the city, which was then closely invested. 

For six weeks Grant pressed the siege with a fiery energy 
which allowed no rest to the besieged. Confederate General 
Johnston was not far off, mustering an army for the relief of 
Vicksburg, and there was not an hour to lose. Grant kept a 
strict blockade upon the scantily provisioned city. From his 
gunboats and from his own hues he maintained an almost 
ceaseless bombardment. The inhabitants crept into caves in 
the hill to find shelter from the intolerable fire. They slaugh- 



442 Young Folks History of America. 

tered their mules for food. They patiently endured the inev- 
itable hardships of their position ; and their daily newspaper, 
printed on scraps of such paper as men cover their walls with, 
continued to the end to make Hght of their sufferings, and to 
breathe defiance against General Grant. But all was vain. 
On the 4th of July — the anniversary of Independence — 
Vicksburg was surrendered with her garrison of twenty-three 
thousand men, much enfeebled by hunger and fatigue. 

The fall of Vicksburg was the heaviest blow which the Con- 
federacy had yet sustained. Nearly one-half of the rebellious 
territory lay beyond the Mississippi. That river was now 
firmly held by the Federals. The revolted States were cut 
in two, and no help could pass from one section to the other. 
There was deep joy in the Northern heart. The President 
thanked General Grant for ^'the almost inestimable service " 
which he had done the country. 

But long before Grant's triumph at Vicksburg another 
humihation had fallen upon the Federal arms in Virginia. 

Soon after the disaster at Fredericksburg, the modest Burn- 
side had asked to be reheved of his command. General 
Hooker took his place. The new chief was familiarly known 
to his countrymen as '^ fighting Joe Hooker," a title which 
sufficiently indicated his dashing, -spirited character. Hooker 
entered on his command with high hopes. " By the bless- 
ing of God," he said to the army, " we will contribute some- 
thing to the renown of our arms and the success of our 
cause." 

After three months of preparation. General Hooker an- 
nounced that his army was irresistible. The Northern cry 
was still, " On to Richmond ! " The dearest wish of the 
Northern people* was to possess the hostile capital. Hooker 
marched southward, nothing doubting that he was to fulfil 
the long -frustrated desire of his countrymen. His confi- 
dence seemed not to be unwarranted; for he had under 



1863. Death of '' StonewalV Jackson. 443 

his command a magnificent army, which greatly outnum- 
bered that opposed to him. But, unhappily for Hooker, 
the hostile forces were led by General Lee and Stonewall 
Jackson. 

On the ist of May, Hooker was in presence of the enemy 
on the line of the Rappahannock. Lee was too weak to give 
or accept battle ; but he was able to occupy Hooker with a 
series of sham attacks. All the while Jackson was hasting to 
assail his flank. His march was through the Wilderness, a 
wild country thick with ill-grown oaks and a dense under- 
growth, where surprise was easy. Towards evening, on the 
2d, Jackson's soldiers burst upon the unexpectant Federals. 
The fury of the attack bore all before it. The Federal line fell 
back in confusion and with heavy loss. 

In the twilight Jackson rode forward with his staff to ex- 
amine the enemy's position. As he returned, a North Caro- 
lina regiment, seeing a party of horsemen approach, presumed 
it was a charge of Federal cavalry. They fired, and Jackson 
fell from his horse, with two bullets in his left arm and one 
through his right hand. They placed him on a litter to carry 
him from the field. One of the bearers was shot down by the 
enemy, and the wounded general fell heavily to the ground. 
The sound of musketry wakened the Federal artillery, and 
for some time Jackson lay helpless on ground swept by the 
cannon of the enemy. When his men learned the situation 
of their beloved commander, they rushed in and carried him 
from the danger. 

Jackson sunk under his wounds. He bore patiently his 
great suffering. " If I live, it will be for the best," he said ; 
" and if I die, it will be for the best. God knows and directs 
all things for the best." He died eight days after the battle, 
to the deep sorrow of his countrymen. He was a great sol- 
dier ; and although he died fighting for a wrong cause, he was 
a true-hearted Christian man. 



444 Young Folks History of America. 

During two days after Jackson fell, the battle continued at 
Chancellorsville. Lee's superior skill in command more than 
compensated for his inferior numbers. He attacked Hooker, 
and always at the point of conflict he was found to be stronger. 
•Hooker discovered that he must retreat, lest a worse thing 
should befall him. After three days' fighting he crossed the 
river in a tempest of wind and rain, and along the muddy 
Virginian roads carried his disheartened troops back to their 
old positions. He had been baffled by a force certainly not 
more than one-half his own. The splendid military genius of 
Lee was perhaps never more conspicuous than in the defeat 
of that great army which General Hooker himself regarded as 
invincible. 

But Emancipation had already turned the scale of the war, 
and the victory in the West was soon to lead to a series of 
decisive victories. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

GETTYSBURG AND RICHMOND. 

The Confederate government had always been eager 
to carry the contest into Northern territory. It was satis- 
fying to the natural pride of the South^ and it was thought 
that some experience of the evils of war might incline the 
Northern mind to peace. Lee was ordered to march into 
Pennsylvania. He gathered all the troops at his disposal, 
and with seventy-five thousand men he crossed the Poto- 
mac, and was once more prepared to face the enemy on his 
own soil. The rich cities of the North trembled. It was 
not unlikely that he would possess himself of Baltimore 
and Philadelphia. Could he once again .defeat Hooker's 
army, as he had often done before, no further resistance 
was possible. Pennsylvania and New York were at his 
mercy. 

Lee advanced to the little Pennsylvanian town of Gettys- 
burg. Hooker, after marching his army northward, had 
been relieved of the command. A battle was near ; and 
in face of the enemy a new commander had to be chosen. 
Two days before the hostile armies met, General Meade was 
appointed. Meade was an experienced soldier, who had 
filled with honor the various positions assigned to him. It 
was seemingly a hopeless task which he was now asked to 
perform. With an oft-defeated army of sixty thousand to 
seventy thousand men, to whom he was a stranger, he had 



44^ Yoimg Folks History of America. 

to meet Lee with his victorious seventy-five thousand. 
Meade quietly undertook the work appointed to him, and 
did it, too, like a brave, prudent, unpretending man. 

The battle lasted for three days. On the first day the 
Confederates had some advantage. Their attack broke 
and scattered a Federal division with considerable loss. 
But that night the careful Meade took up a strong posi- 
tion on a crescent-shaped line of heights near the little 
town. 

Next day Lee attempted to dislodge the enemy. The 
key of the Federal position was Cemetery Hill, and 
there the utmost strength of the Confederate attack was 
put forth. Nor was it in vain. Part of the Federal 
line was broken. At one point an important position 
had been taken by the Confederates. Lee might fairly 
hope that another day's fighting would complete his suc- 
cess and give him undisputed possession of the wealthiest 
Northern States. His loss had been small, while the 
Federals had been seriously weakened. 

Perhaps no hours of deeper gloom were ever passed in 
the North than the hours of that summer evening when the 
telegraph flashed over the country the news of Lee's suc- 
cess. The lavish sacrifice of blood and treasure seemed 
in vain. A million of men were in arms to defend the 
Union, and yet the northward progress of the enemy could 
not be withstood. Should Lee be victorious on the mor- 
row, the most hopeful must despond. 

The day on which so much of the destiny of America hung 
opened bright and warm and still. The morning was occu- 
pied by Lee in preparations for a crushing attack upon the 
centre of the Federal position; by Meade, in carefully 
strengthening his power of resistance at the point where he 
was to win or to lose this decisive battle. About noon all was 
completed. Over both armies there fell a marvellous still- 



^1^ 










/'^^ # 










1363- Battle of Gettysburg, 449 

ness, — the silence of anxious and awful expectation. It was 
broken by a solitary cannon-shot, and the shriek of a Whit- 
worth shell as it rushed through the air. That was the signal 
at which one hundred and fifty Confederate guns opened 
their fire. The Federal artillery replied. For three hours a 
prodigious hail of shells fell upon either army. No decisive 
supremacy was, however, established by the guns on either 
side, although heavy loss was sustained by both. While 
the cannonade still continued, Lee sent forth the columns 
whose errand it was to break the Federal centre. They 
marched down the low range of heights on which they had 
stood, and across the little intervening valley. As they 
moved up the opposite height the friendly shelter of Con- 
federate fire ceased. Terrific discharges of grape and 
shell smote but did not shake their steady ranks. As 
the men fell their comrades stepped into their places, 
and the undismayed lines moved swiftly on. Up to the 
low stone wall which sheltered the Federals, up to the 
very muzzles of guns whose rapid fire cut every instant 
deep lines in their ranks, the heroic advance was con- 
tinued. 

General Lee from the opposite height watched, as Napo- 
leon did at Waterloo, the progress of his attack. Once 
the smoke of battle was for a moment blown aside, and the 
Confederate flag was seen to wave within the enemy's 
position. Lee's generals congratulate him that the vic- 
tory is gained. Again the cloud gathers around the com- 
batants. When it lifts next, the Confederates are seen 
broken and fleeing down that fatal slope, where a man can 
walk now without once putting his foot upon the grass, so 
thick lie the bodies of the slain. The attack had failed. 
The battle was lost. The Union was saved. 

General Lee's business was now to save his army. 
" This has been a sad day for us," he said to a friend, " a 

29 



450 Voting Folks' History of America. 

sad day ; but we can't expect always to gain victories." 
He rallied his broken troops, expecting to be attacked by 
the victorious Federals. But Meade did not follow up his 
success. Next day Lee began his retreat. In perfect 
order he moved towards the Potomac, and safely crossed 
the swollen river back into Virginia. 

The losses sustained in this battle were terrible. Forty- 
eight thousand men lay dead or wounded on the field. 
Lee's army was weakened by over forty thousand men, 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. Meade lost twenty-three 
thousand. For miles around, every barn, every cottage, 
contained wounded men. The streets of the little town 
were all dabbled with blood. Men were for many days 
engaged in burying the dead, of whom there were nearly 
eight thousand. The wounded of both armies, who were 
able to be removed, were at once carried into hospitals and 
tenderly cared for. There were many so rriangled that their 
removal was impossible. These were ministered to on the 
field till death relieved them from their pain. 

The tidings of the victory at Gettysburg came to the 
Northern people on the 4th of July, side by side with the 
tidings of the fall of Vicksburg. The proud old anniver- 
sary had perhaps never before been celebrated by the 
American people with hearts so thankful and so glad. 
Mr. Lincoln, who had become grave and humble and 
reverential under the influence of those awful circumstances 
amid which he lived, proclaimed a solemn day of thanks- 
giving for the deliverance granted to the nation, and of 
prayer that God would lead them all, " through the paths 
of repentance and submission to the divine will, to unity 
and fraternal peace." 

The deep enthusiasm which in those anxious da5'^s 
thrilled the American heart sought in song that fulness of 
expression which speech could not afford. Foremost among 



1863. Battle-Hymn of the Republic. 45 1 

the favorite poetic utterances of the people was this, by 
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe : — 

BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord ; 
Me is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored ; 
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; 
His Truth is marching on. 

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; 
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; 
I have read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps ; 
His Day is marching on. 

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel, — 
" As ye deal with my contemners, so with you My grace shall deal ; " 
Let the Hero born of woman crush the serpent with His heel, 
Since God is marching on. 

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat ; 
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat; 
Oh ! be swift, my soul, to answer Him ; be jubilant, my feet, — 
Our God is marching on. 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, 
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; 
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, 
While God is marching on. 

These strangely musical verses were sung at all public 
meetings in the North, the audience ordinarily starting to 
their feet and joining in the strain, often interrupted by 
emotion too deeply stirred to be concealed. President 
Lincoln has been seen listening to the hymn with tears 
rolling down his face. When the battle of Gettysburg was 
fought there were many hundreds of Northern officers cap- 
tive in the Libby prison, — a huge, shapeless structure, 



452 Young Folks' History of America. 

once a tobacco factory, standing by the wayside in a 
suburb of Richmond. A false report was brought to them 
that the Confederates had gained. There were sleepless 
eyes and sorrowing hearts that night among the prisoners. 
But next morning an old negro brought them the true 
account of the battle. The sudden joy was too deep for 
words. By one universal impulse the gladdened captives 
burst into song. Midst weeping and midst laughter the 
Battle-Hymn of the Republic was caught up until five hun- 
dred voices were joining in the strain. There, as else- 
where, it was felt with unutterable joy and thankfulness 
that the country was saved. 

The victory at Gettysburg lifted a great load from the 
hearts of the Northern people. There was yet a work 
vast and grim to be accomplished before a solid peace 
could be attained. But there was now a sure hope of final 
success. It was remarked by President Lincoln's friends 
that his appearance underwent a noticeable change after 
Gettysburg. His eye grew brighter ; his bowed-down 
form was once more erect. In the winter after the battle, 
part of the battle-ground was consecrated as a cemetery, 
into which were gathered the remains of the brave men 
who fell. Lincoln took part in the ceremony, and spoke 
these memorably words : " It is for us, the living, to be 
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who 
fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is for us 
to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us ; 
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion 
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of 
devotion ; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall 
not have died in vain ; that this nation, under God, shall 
have a new birth of freedom ; and that government of the 
people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
from the earth." 



1864. At Gettysburg. 453 



"first in the foremost line. 

I stood to-day upon the ridge 

Where once the blue brigades were massed, 

And gazed across the plain below 

O'er which the charging column passed — 

That long, low line of gray, flame-tipt, 

Which still its onward movement kept 

Until it reached the sandy slope 

By twice a hundred cannon swept. 

And sauntering downward, somewhat sad, 
Among the stones no longer stained, 
I halted at a little mound 
That only the front rank had gained, — 
A little mound left all alone, 
Unmarked by flower or cypress wreath 
To show that some regretful heart 
Remembered him who slept beneath. 

But, half-way hidden by the grass, 
I found a broken barrel-stave, 
The head-board which some foeman's hand 
Had kindly placed above his grave ; 
And on one side I traced these words, 
In letters I could scarce divine : 
" Soldier, name unknown, who fell 
First in the foremost line." 

The field was bare. No grinning skulls 

Gleamed ghastly in the clear noontide. 

For on a hill not far away 

The dead were gathered side by side. 

Yet none had touched the little mound ; 

Mayhap by chance, or by design. 

They left him where death struck him down, 

*' First in the foremost line." 

And they did well ; there let him rest ; 
A fitter spot there coukl not be. 
No monument upon the earth, 
No sepulchre within the sea, 



454 Young Folks' History of America, 

Could match the tomb that Nature gives, 
The shroud she spreads o'er his remains, 
The green turf kissed by summer suns, 
And washed by summer rains. 

Perchance for him a mother's soul 
Sought God upon that bitter night, 
When first the dirgeful breezes bore 
Disastrous tidings from the fight; 
And in the autumn twilight gray 
Belike sad eyes, in tearful strain, 
Gazed northward very wistfully 
For one that did not come again. 

Perchance for him some fresh young life 
Drooped wearily from week to week, 
Struggling against the gnawing grief 
That ate the roses in her cheek, 
Till pitying Death, with gentle touch. 
Set sleep eternal in her face, 
And, sorrowing for the roses gone, 
Planted his lilies in their place. 

God's peace be with thee in thy rest, 
Lone dweller in a stranger's land, 
And may the mould above thy breast 
Lie lighter than a sister's hand ! 
On other brows let P'ame bestow 
Her fadeless wreath and laurel twine ; 
Enough for thee thy epitaph : 
*' Dead in the foremost line." 

Even before the disasters of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, 
and while General Lee was still pursuing a course of daz- 
zling success, it had become evident to many that the cause 
of the South was hopeless. A strict blockade shut her out 
from the markets of Europe. Her supplies of arms were 
running so low that even if she could have found men in 
sufficient numbers to resist the North, she could not have 



1864. Resources of the North and South. 455 

equipped them. Food was becoming scarce. Already the 
pangs of hunger had been experienced in Lee's army. 
Elsewhere there was much suffering, even among those 
who had lately been rich. The soldiers were insufficiently 
provided with clothing. As winter came on they deserted 
and went home in crowds so great that punishment was 
impossible. 

The North had a million of men in the field. She had 
nearly six hundred ships-of-war, seventy-five of which were 
iron-clads. She had boundless command of every thing 
which could contribute to the efficiency and comfort of her 
soldiers. The rolls of the Southern armies showed only 
fQur hundred thousand men under arms, and of these it 
was said that from desertion and other causes seldom more 
than one-half were in the ranks. 

Money was becoming very scarce. The Confederate 
government borrowed all the money it could at home; but 
the supply received was wholly out of proportion to the ex- 
penditure. A loan was attempted in England, and there 
proved to be there a sufficient number of rich but unwise 
persons to furnish three millions sterling, — most of which 
will remain for ever unpaid to the lenders. No other meas- 
ure remained but to print, as fast as machinery would, do 
it, government promises to pay at some future time, and to 
force these upon people to whom the government owed 
money. These promises gradually fell in value. In 1862, 
when the Rebellion was young and hopes were high, one 
dollar and twenty cents in government money would pur- 
chase a dollar in gold. In January, 1863, it required three 
dollars to do that. After Gettysburg it required twenty 
dollars. Somewhat later it required sixty paper dollars to 
obtain the one precious golden coin. 

It became every day more apparent that the resources 
of the South were being exhausted. Even if the genius of 



456 Young Folks History of America, 

her generals should continue to gain victories, the South 
must perish from want of money and want of food. There 
was a touching weakness in many of her business arrange- 
ments. Government appealed to the people for gifts of 
jewelry and silver plate, and published in the Richmond 
newspapers lists of the gold rings and silver spoons and 
teapots which amiable enthusiasts bestowed upon them ! 
When iron-clad ships-of-war were needed, and iron was 
scarce, an association of ladies was formed to collect old 
pots and pans for the purpose ! The daring of these peo- 
ple and the skill of their leaders might indeed gain them 
victories j but it was a wild improbability that they should 
come successfully out of a war in which the powerful and 
sagacious North was resolute to win. 

The Northern government, well advised of the failing 
resources of the South, hoped that one campaign more 
would close the war. Bitter experience had corrected their 
early mistakes. They had at length found a general wor- 
thy of his high place. Grant was summoned eastward to 
direct the last march on Richmond. The spirit of the 
country was resolute as ever. The soldiers had now the 
skill of veterans. Enormous supplies were provided. 
Every thing that boundless resources, wisely administered, 
could do, was now done to bring the awful contest to a 
close. 

When the campaign opened, Grant with one hundred and 
twenty thousand men faced Lee, whose force was certainly 
less by one-half. The little river Rapidan flowed between. 
The Wilderness — a desolate region of stunted trees and 
dense undergrowth — stretched for many miles around. At 
midnight, on the 3d of May, Grant began to cross the river, 
and before next evening his army stood on the southern 
side. Lee at once attacked him. During the next eight 
days there was continuous fighting. The men toiled all 



1864. 



Battles in the Wilderness. 



AS7 



day at the work of slaughter, lay down to sleep at night, 
and rose to resume their bloody labor in the morning, as 
men do in the ordinary peaceful business of life. Lee di- 
rected his scanty force with wondrous skill. It was his 
habit to throw up intrenchments, within which he main- 
tained himself against the Federal assault. Grant did not 
allow himself to be hindered in his progress to Richmond. 
When he failed to force the Confederate position he 




THE WILDERNESS. 



marched southward round its flank, continually obliging 
Lee to move forward and take up a new position. His 
losses were terrible. From the 5th to the 12th of May he 
had lost thirty thousand men in killed, wounded, and 
missing. The wounded were sent to Washington. Trains 
of ambulances miles in length, laden with suifering men, 
passed continually through the capital, filling all hearts 
with sadness and gloomy apprehension. The cost was 
awful, but General Grant knew that the end was being 



458 Young Folks History of America. 

gained. He knew that Lee was weakened irrecoverably by 
the slaughter of these battles, and he wrote that he would 
"fight it out on this line, if it should take all summer." 

Grant found that a direct attack on Richmond was as 
yet hopeless. He marched southward past the Confederate 
capital to the town of Petersburg, twenty-two miles off. 
His plan was to wear down the rebel army by the contin- 
ual attack of superior forces, and also to cut the railways 
by which provisions were brought into Richmond. By the 
middle of June he was before Petersburg, which he hoped 
to possess before Lee had time to fortify the place against 
him. It might have been taken by a vigorous assault, but 
the attacking force was feebly led, and the opportunity was 
missed. 

And now there began the tedious bloody siege of Peters- 
burg. The armies had chosen their positions for the final 
conflict. The result was not doubtful. General Lee was 
of opinion, some time before, that the fortunes of the Con- 
federacy were desperate. The Northern government and 
military leaders knew that success was certain. Indeed, 
General Grant stated afterwards that he had been at the 
front from the very beginning of the war, and that he had 
never entertained any doubt whatever as to the final suc- 
cess of the North. 

All around Petersburg, at such distance that the firing 
did not very seriously affect the little city, stretched the 
earthworks of the combatants. Before the end there were 
forty miles of earthworks. The Confederates established 
a line of defence. The Federals established a line of at- 
tack, and gradually, by superior strength, drove their antag- 
onists back. Lee retired to a new series of defences, where 
the fight was continued. The Federals had a railway run- 
ning to City Point, eleven miles away, where their ships 
brought for them the amplest supplies. Lee depended 



1864. Siege of Petersburg. 459 

upon the railways which communicated with distant por- 
tions of Confederate territory. These it was the aim of 
Grant to cut, so that his adversary might be driven by want 
of food from his position. The outposts of the armies were 
within talking distance of each other. The men lay in 
rifle-pits or shallow ditches, watching opportunity to kill. 
Any foe who incautiously came within range died by their 
unerring fire. For ten long months the daily occupation 
of the combatants had been to attack each the positions of 
the other. The Confederates, by constant sallies, attempted 
to hinder the advance of their powerful assailant. Grant 
never relaxed his hold. He '-'had the rebellion by the 
throat," and he steadily tightened his grasp. By City Point 
he was in easy communication with the boundless resources 
of the North. Men and stores were supplied as he needed 
them by an enthusiastic country. On the Southern side the 
last available man was now in the field. Half the time the 
army wanted food. Desertions abounded. It was not that 
the men shunned danger or hardship, but they knew the 
cause was hopeless. Many of them knew also that their 
families were starving. They went home to help those who 
were dearer to them than that desperate enterprise whose 
ruin was now so manifest. The genius of Lee was the sole 
remaining buttress of the Confederate cause. 

Once the Federals ran an enormous mine under a portion 
of the enemy's works. In this mine they piled up twelve 
thousand pounds of gunpowder. They had a strong col- 
umn ready to march into the opening which the explosion 
would cleave. Early one summer morning the mine was 
fired. A vast mass of earth, mingled with bodies of men, 
was thrown high into air. The Confederate defence at 
that point was effaced. The attacking force moved for- 
ward. But from some unexplained reason they paused and 
sheltered themselves in the huge pit formed by the explo- 



460 Young Folks History of America. 

sion. The Confederates promptly brought up artillery and 
rained shells into the pit, where soon fifteen hundred men 
lay dead. The discomfited Federals retired to their lines. 

When Grant began his march to Richmond, he took care 
that the enemy should be pressed in other quarters of his 
territory. General Sherman marched from Tennessee 
down into Georgia. Before him was a strong Confederate 
army and a country peculiarly favorable for an army con- 
tented to remain on the defensive. Sherman overcame 
every obstacle. He defeated his enemy in many battles 
and bloody skirmishes. His object was to reach Atlanta, 
the capital of Georgia. Atlanta was of extreme value to the 
Confederates. It commanded railroads which conveyed 
supplies to their armies. It had great factories where they 
manufactured cannon and locomotives; great foundries 
where they labored incessantly to produce shot and shell. 
Sherman, by brilliant generalship and hard fighting, over- 
came all resistance, and entered Atlanta September 2. It 
was a great prize, but it was not had cheaply. During 
these four months he had lost thirty thousand men. 

When Sherman had held Atlanta for a few weeks he re- 
solved to march eastward through Georgia to the sea. He 
had a magnificent army of sixty thousand men, for whom 
there was no sufficient occupation where they lay. On the 
sea-coast there were cities to be taken. And then his 
army could march northward to join Grant before Pe- 
tersburg. 

When all was ready Sherman put the torch to the public 
buildings of Atlanta, telegraphed northward that all was 
well, and cut the telegraph wires. Then he started on his 
march of three hundred miles across a hostile country. 
For a month nothing was heard of him. When he reap- 
peared, it was before Savannah, of which he quickly pos- 
sessed himself. His march through Georgia had been 



1864. Battle of Winchester. 463 

unopposed. He severely wasted the country for thirty 
miles on either side of the line from Atlanta to Savannah. 
He carried off the supplies he needed. He destroyed 
what he could not use. He tore up the railroads. He 
proclaimed liberty to the slaves, many of whom accompa- 
nied him eastward. He proved to all the world how hol- 
low a thing was now the Confederacy, and how rapidly its 
doom was approaching. 

At the north, in the valley of the Shenandoah, a strong 
Confederate army, under the habitually unsuccessful Gen- 
eral Early, confronted the Federals under Sheridan. 
Could Sheridan have been driven away, the war might 
again have been carried into Pennsylvania or Maryland, 
and the North humbled in her career of victory. But 
Sheridan was still triumphant. At length General Early 
effected a surprise. He burst upon the Federals while 
they looked not for him. His sudden attack disordered 
the enemy, who began to retire. Sheridan was not with 
his army. He had gone to Winchester, twenty miles away. 
The morning breeze from the south bore to his startled ear 
the sounds of battle. Sheridan mounted his horse, and rode 
with the speed of a man who felt that upon his presence 
hung the destiny of the fight. His army was on the verge 
of defeat, and already stragglers were hurrying from the 
field. But when Sheridan galloped among them, the battle 
was restored. Under Sheridan the army was invincible. 
The Confederates were defeated with heavy loss, and were 
never again able to renew the war in the valley of the 
Shenandoah. 

The slave question was not yet completely settled. The 
Proclamation had made free the slaves of all who were in 
the army, and nothing stood between them and liberty but 
those thin lines of gray-coated, hungry soldiers, upon whose 
arms the genius of Lee bestowed an efficacy not naturally 



464 Yoimg Folks History of America. 

their own. But the Proclamation had no power to free the 
slaves of loyal citizens. In the States which had not 
revolted, slavery was the same as it had ever been. 
The feeling deepened rapidly throughout the North that 
this could not continue. Slavery had borne fruit in the 
hugest rebellion known to history. It had proclaimed 
irreconcilable hostility tu the government. It had brought 
mourning and woe into every house. The Union could not 
continue half-slave and half-free. The North wisely and 
nobly resolved that slavery should cease. 

Most of the loyal slave States freed themselves of this 
evil institution by their own choice. Louisiana, brought 
back to her allegiance not without some measure of force, 
led the way. Maryland followed, and Tennessee and Mis- 
souri and Arkansas. In Missouri, whence the influence 
issued which murdered Lovejoy because he was an aboli- 
tionist, which supplied the border ruffians in the early days 
of Kansas, the abolition of slavery was welcomed with 
devout prayer and thanksgiving, with joyful illuminations 
and speeches and patriotic songs. 

One thing was yet wanting to the complete and final 
extinction of slavery. The Constitution permitted its 
existence. If the Constitution were so amended as to for- 
bid slavery upon American soil, the cause of this huge 
discord which now convulsed the land would be removed. 
A constitutional amendment to this effect was submitted 
to the people. In the early months of 1865, while General 
Lee — worthy to fight in a better cause — was still bravely 
toiling to avert the coming doom of the slave empire, the 
Northern States joyfully adopted the amendment. Slavery 
was now at length extinct. This was what Providence had 
mercifully brought out of a rebellion whose avowed object 
it was to establish slavery more firmly and extend it more 
widely. 



1865. Lincohis Second Inauguration. 467 

But freedom was not enough. Many of the black men had 
faithfully served the Union. Nearly two hundred thousand 
of them were in the ranks, fighting manfully in a cause 
which was specially their own. There were many black 
men, as Lincoln said, who "could remember that, with 
silent tongue and clenched teeth and steady eye and well- 
poised bayonet, they had helped mankind to save liberty in 
America." But the colored race was child-like and help- 
less. They had to be looked upon as " the wards of the 
nation." A Freedmen's Bureau was established, to be the 
defence of the defenceless blacks. General Howard, a 
man peculiarly fitted to give wise effect to the kind pur- 
poses of the nation, became the head of this department. 
It was his duty to provide food and shelter for the slaves 
who were set free by military operations in the revolted 
States. He settled them, as he could, on confiscated lands. 
After a time he had to see to the education of their chil- 
dren. In all needful ways he was to keep the negroes from 
wrong till they were able to keep themselves. 

Four years had now passed since Lincoln's election fur- 
nished the slave-owners with a pretext to rebel. Another 
election had to be held. Lincoln was again proposed as 
the Republican candidate. The Democratic party nomi- 
nated McClellan. Mr. Lincoln was re-elected by the largest 
majority ever known. " It is not in my nature," he said; " to 
triumph over any one ; but I give thanks to Almighty God 
for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free 
government and the rights of humanity." 

He was inaugurated according to the usual form. His 
address was brief, but high-toned and solemn, as beseemed 
the circumstances. Perhaps no State paper ever produced 
so deep an impression upon the American people. It 
closed thus : " Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, 
that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. 



468 Young Folks History of America. 

Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled 
by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited 
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with 
the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as 
was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 
* The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous alto- 
gether.' With malice towards none, with charity for all, 
with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, 
let us finish the work we are in, — to bind up the nation's 
wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, 
and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may 
achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among our- 
selves and with all nations." 

During the winter months it became very plain that the 
Confederacy was tottering to its fall. These were the 
bitterest months through which Virginia had ever passed. 
The army was habitually now on short supply. Occasion- 
ally, for a day, there was almost a total absence of food. 
One day in December, Lee telegraphed to Richmond that 
his army was without meat, and dependent on a little bread. 
And yet the soldiers were greatly better ofc than the citi- 
zens. Provisions were seized for the army wherever they 
could be found, and the owners were mercilessly left to 
starve. The suffering endured among the once cheerful 
homes of Virginia was terrible. 

Every grown man was the property of the government. 
It was said the rich men escaped easily. But a poor man 
could not pass along a street in Richmond without immi- 
nent risk of being seized and sent down to the lines at 
Petersburg. At railroad stations might be constantly seen 
groups of squalid men on their way to camp, caught up 
from their homes and hurried off to fight for a cause which 
they all knew to be desperate, in the service of a govern- 
ment which they no longer trusted. It was, of course, the 



1865. • Wreck of the Confederacy . 469 

earliest care of these men to desert. They went home. 
They surrendered to the enemy. The spirit- which made 
the Confederacy formidable no longer survived. 

General Lee had long before expressed his belief that 
without the help of the slaves the war must end disastrously. 
But all men knew that a slave who had been a soldier could 
be a slave no longer. The owners were not prepared to 
free their slaves, and they refused therefore to arm them. 
In November, with utter ruin impending, a bill was intro- 
duced into the Confederate Congress for arming two 
hundred thousand negroes. It was debated till the follow- 
ing March. Then a feeble compromise was passed, merely 
giving the President power to accept such slaves as were 
offered to him. So inflexibly resolute were the leaders of 
the South in their hostility to Emancipation. It was wholly 
unimportant. At that time government could have armed 
only another five thousand men ; and could not feed the 
men it had. 

The finances of the Confederacy were an utter wreck. 
Government itself sold specie at the rate of one gold dollar 
for sixty dollars in paper money. Mr. Davis, by a measure 
of partial repudiation, relieved himself for a short space 
from some of his embarrassments. But no device would 
gain public confidence for the currency of a falling power. 
A loaf of bread cost three dollars. It took a month's pay 
to buy the soldier a pair of stockings. The misery of the 
country was deep, abject, unutterable. President Davis 
came to be regarded by many with abhorrence, as the cause 
of all this wretchedness. Curses, growing ever deeper 
and louder, were breathed against the unsuccessful chief. 

General Grant, well aware of the desperate condition of 
the Confederates, pressed incessantly upon their enfeebled 
lines. He had one hundred and sixty thousand men under 
his command. Sheridan joined him with a magnificent 



470 Young Folks History of America. 

force of cavalry. Sherman with his victorious army was 
near. Grant began to fear that Lee would take to flight, and 
keep the Rebellion alive on other fields. A general move- 
ment of all the forces around Richmond was decided upon. 
Lee struggled bravely, but in vain, against overwhelming 
numbers. His right was assailed by Sheridan, and driven 
back with heavy loss, — five thousand hungry and disheart- 
ened men laying down their arms. On that same night 
Grant opened, from all his guns, a terrific and prolonged 
bombardment. At dawn the assault was made. Its 
strength was directed against one of the Confederate forts. 
The fight ceased elsewhere, and the armies looked on. 
There w^as a steady advance of the blue-coated lines ; a 
murderous volley from the little garrison ; wild cheers from 
the excited spectators. Under a heavy fire of artillery 
and musketry the soldiers of the Union rush on ; they 
swarm into the ditch and up the sides of the works. Those 
who first reach the summit fall back slain by musket-shot or 
bayonet-thrust. But others press fiercely on. Soon their 
exulting cheers tell that the fort is won. Lee's army is cut 
in two. His position is no longer tenable. He telegraphed 
at once to President Davis that Richmond must be 
evacuated. 

It was Communion Sunday in St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church, and President Davis w^as in his pew among the 
other worshippers. No intelligence from the army had been 
allowed to reach the public for some days. But the sound 
of Grant's guns had been heard, and the reserve of the 
government was ominous. Many a keen eye sought to 
gather from the aspect of the President some forecast of 
the future. In vain. That serene, self-possessed face had 
lost nothing of its habitual reticence. In all that congre- 
gation there was no worshipper who seemed less encumbered 
by the world, more absorbed by the sacred employment of 



1865. Capture of Richmond. 4/3 

the hour, than President Davis. The service proceeded, 
and the congregation knelt in prayer. As President Davis 
rose from his knees, the sexton handed him a sHp of paper. 
He calmly read it. Then he calmly lifted his prayer-book, 
and with unmoved face walked softly from the church. 
It was Lee's message he had received. Jefferson Davis's 
sole concern now was to escape doom. He fled at once, 
by special train, towards the South. Then the work of 
evacuation commenced. The gunboats on the river were 
blown up. The bridges were destroyed. The great ware- 
houses in the city were set on fire, and in the flames 
thus wickedly kindled a third part of the city was con- 
sumed. All who had made themselves prominent in the 
Rebellion fled from the anticipated vengeance of the 
Federals. The soldiers were marched off, plundering as 
they went. Next morning Richmond was in possession of 
the Northern troops. Among the first to enter the cap- 
ital was a regiment of negro cavalry. 

About midnight on Sunday Lee began his retreat from 
the position which he had kept so well. Grant promptly 
followed him. On Tuesday morning Lee reached a point 
where he had ordered supplies to wait him. By some 
fatal blunder, the cars laden with the food which his men 
needed so much had been run on to Richmond, and were 
lost to him. Hungry and weary the men toiled on, hotly 
pursued by Grant. Soon a hostile force appeared jn their 
front, and it became evident that they were surrounded. 

General Grant wrote to General Lee asking the sur- 
render of his army, to spare the useless effusion of blood. 
Lee did not at first admit that surrender was necessary, and 
Grant pressed the pursuit with relentless energy. Lee 
at last wrote to request a meeting, that the terms of sur- 
render might be arranged. The two leaders met in a way- 
side cottage. They had never seen each other before. 



474 Young Folks' History of America. 

although they had both served in the Mexican war, and 
Lee mentioned pleasantly that he remembered the name of 
his antagonist from that time. Grant drew up and pre- 
sented in writing the terms which he offered. The men 
were to lay down their arms, and give their pledge that 
they would not serve against the American government till 
regularly exchanged. They were then to return to their 
homes, with a guarantee that they would not be disturbed 
by the government against which they had rebelled. Grant 
asked if these terms were satisfactory. 

" Yes," said Lee^ " they are satisfactory. The truth is, I 
am in such a position that any terms offered to me must be 
satisfactory." 

And then he told how his men had been for two days 
without food, and begged General Grant to spare them 
what he could. Grant, generously eager to relieve his . 
fallen enemies, despatched instantly a large drove of oxen 
and a train of provision wagons. In half an hour there 
were heard in the Federal camp the cheers with which the 
hungry Confederates welcomed those precious gifts. 

Lee rode quietly back to his army. The surrender was 
expected. When its details became known, officers and 
men crowded around their much-loved chief to assure him 

of their devotion, to obtain a parting grasp of his hand. 

Lee was too deeply moved to say much. 

"Men," he said, with his habitual simplicity, "we have 

fought through the war together, and I have done the best 

I could for you." 

A day or two later the men stacked their arms and went 

to their homes. The history of the once splendid Army of 

Northern Virginia had closed. 

Lee's surrender led the way to the surrender of all the 

Confederate armies. Within a few days there was no 

organized force of any importance in arms against the 

Union. The War of the Great Rebellion was at an end. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE MARTYR PRESIDENT. 

When the closing operations against Richmond were being 
arranged, President Lincoln went down to General Grant's 
head-quarters at City Point. He remained there till Lee's 
surrender. He visited Richmond on the day it was taken, and 
walked through the streets holding his little boy by his hand. 
The freed slaves crowded to welcome their deliverer. They 
expressed in a thousand grotesque ways their gratitude to the 
good "Father Abraham." There had been dark hints for 
some time that there were those among the Confederates who 
would avenge their defeat by the murder of the President. 
Mr. Lincoln was urged to be on his guard, and his friends 
were unwilling that he should visit Richmond. He himself 
cared little, now that the national cause had triumphed. 

He returned unharmed to Washington on the evening of 
Lee's surrender. The next few days were perhaps the 
brightest in his whole hfe. He had guided the nation 
through the heaviest trial which had ever assailed it. On 
every side were joy and gladness. Flags waved, bells rang, 
guns were fired, houses were illuminated ; the thanks of innu- 
merable grateful hearts went up to God for this great deliver- 
ance. No heart in all the country was more joyful and 
more thankful than Mr. Lincoln's. He occupied himself 
with plans for healing the wounds of his bleeding country, 
and bringing back the revolted States to a contented occupa- 



4/8 Yotmg Folks History of America. 

tion of their appointed places in the Union. No thought of 
severity was in his mind. Now that armed resistance to the 
government was crushed, the gentlest measures which would 
give security in the future were those most agreeable to the 
good President. 

On the 14th he held a meeting of his Cabiret, at which 
General Grant was present. The quiet cheerfulness and 
hopefulness of the President imparted to the proceedings 
of the council a tone long remembered by those who were 
present. After the meeting he drove out with Mrs. Lincoln, 
to whom he talked of the good days in store. They had had 
a hard time, he said, since they came to Washington ; but 
now, by God's blessing, they might hope for quieter and 
happier years. 

In the evening he drove, with Mrs. Lincoln and two or 
three friends, to a theatre where he knew the people expected 
his coming. As the play went on, the audience were startled 
by a pistol-shot in the President's box. A man brandishing 
a dagger was seen to leap from the box on to the stage, 
and with a wild cry, " The South is avenged ! " he disappeared 
behind the scenes. The President sat motionless, his head 
sunk down upon his breast. He was evidently unconscious. 
When the surgeon came, it was found that a bullet had 
pierced the brain, inflicting a deadly wound. He was carried 
to a house close by. His family and the great officers of 
State, by whom he was dearly loved, sat around the bed of 
the dying President. He lingered till morning, breathing 
heavily, but in entire unconsciousness, and then he passed 
away. 

At the same hour the President was murdered, a ruffian 
broke into the sick-room of Mr. Seward, who was suffering 
from a recent accident, and stabbed him as he lay in bed. 
His bloody work was happily interrupted, and Mr. Seward 
recovered. 



1865. 



Assassifiation of Lincoln. 



4S1 



The assassin of Mr. Lincoln was an actor called Booth, a 
fanatical adherent of the fallen Confederacy. His leg was 
broken in the leap on to the stage, but he was able to reach 
a horse which stood ready at the theatre door. He rode 
through the city, crossed the Potomac by a bridge, in the 




ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN. 



face of the sentinels posted there, and passed safely beyond 
present pursuit. A week later he was found hid in a barn, 
and well armed. He refused to surrender, and was preparing 
to fire, when a soldier ended his miserable existence by a 
bullet. 

31 



482 Young Folks History of America. 

The grief of the American people for their murdered Presi- 
dent was beyond example deep and bitter. Perhaps for no 
man were there ever shed so profusely the tears of sorrow. 
Not in America alone^ but in England too, where President 
Lincoln was at length understood and honored, his loss was 
deeply mourned. It was resolved that he should be buried 
beside his old home in Illinois. The embalmed remains were 
to be conveyed to their distant resting-place by a route which 
would give to the people of the chief Northern cities a last 
opportunity to look upon the features of the man they loved 
so well. The sad procession moved on its long journey of 
nearly two thousand miles, traversing the States of Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and 
Illinois. Everywhere, as the funeral train passed, the weeping 
people sought to give expression to their reverential sorrow. 
At the great cities the body lay in state, and all business was 
suspended. 

At length Springfield was reached. The body was taken to 
the State House. His neighbors looked once ||ore upon 
that well-remembered face, wasted, indeed, by years of anx- 
ious toil, but wearing still, as of old, its kind and placid 
expression. 

Four years ago Lincoln said to his neighbors, when he was 
leaving them, " I know not how soon I shall see you again. 
I go to assume a task more difficult than that which has 
devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington." 
He had nobly accomplished his task ; and this was the man- 
ner of his home-coming. 

A week before the assassination, the bells of almost every 
village in the North and West had rung for joy over the fall of 
Richmond ; now they were heard tolling in every place, and 
half-mast flags were seen on every public square and village 
green where yesterday they were waving in victory. Those 
were days ever to be remembered, when strong men stood 
dumb in their fields and wept. 



1865. " The Patriot's Remembrances J^ 483 



THE PATRIOT S REMEMBRANCES. 

Sweet spring is in the air, good wife, 

The bluer sky appears, 
The robin sings the welcome note 

He sung in other years. 
Twelve times the spring has oped the rills, 

Twelve times has autumn sighed, 
Since hung the war clouds o'er the hills, 

The year that Lincoln died. 

The March wind early left the zone 

For distant northern seas, 
And wandering airs of gentle tone 

Came to the door-yard trees ; 
And sadness in the dewy hours 

Her reign extended wide 
When spring retouched the hills with flowers, 

The year that Lincoln died. 

We used to sit and talk of him, 

Our long, long absent son; 
We 'd two to love us then, good wife, 

But now we have but one. 
The springs return, the autumns burn 

His grave unknown beside ; 
They laid him 'neath the moss and fern, 

The year that Lincoln died. 

One day I was among the flocks 

That roamed the April dells, 
When floating from the city came 

The sound of many bells. 
The towns around caught up the sound, 

I climbed the mountain side. 
And saw the spires with banners crowned, 

The year that Lincoln died. 

I knew what meant that sweet accord, 

That jubilee of bells, 
And sang an anthem to the Lord 

Amid the pleasant dells. 



484 Young Folks History of America, 

But when 1 thought of those so young 
That slept the James beside, 

In undertones of joy I sung, 
The year that Lincoln died, ^ 

And when the tidings came, good wife, 

Our soldier boy was dead, 
I bowed my trembling knee in prayer, 

You bowed your whitened head. 
The house was still, the woods were calm, 

And while you sobbed and cried, 
I sang alone the evening psalm, 

The year that Lincoln died. 

I hung his picture 'neath the shelf, 

It .=till is hanging there ; 
I laid his ring where you yourself 

Had put a curl of hair. 
Then to the spot where willows wave 

With hapless steps we hied, 
And " Charley's " called an empty grave, 

The year that Lincoln died. 

The years will come, the years will go, 

But never at our door 
The fair-haired boy we used to meet 

Will smile upon us more. 
But memory long will hear the fall 

Of steps at eventide, 
And every blooming year recall 

The year that Lincoln died. 

One day I was among the flocks 

That roamed the April dells, 
When at the noonday hour I heard 

A tolling of the bells. 
With heavy heart and footsteps slow 

I climbed the mountain side, 
And saw the blue flags hanging low. 

The year that Lincoln died. 



.1865. " The Patriot's Remembrances T 485 

That eve I stopped to rest awhile 

Beside the meadow bars, 
Where, years before, poor Charley watched 

The comet 'mong the stars. 
Then from his night-encumbered way 

A traveller stepped aside ; 
And told the dreadful news that day. 

The year that Lincoln died. 

Ah ! many a year, ah ! many a year, 

The birds will cross the seas, 
And blossoms fall in gentle showers 

Beneath the door-yard trees, 
And still will tender mothers weep 

The soldier's grave beside, 
And fresh in memory ever keep 

The year that Lincoln died. 

Where many sow the seed in tears 

Shall many reap in joy, 
And harvesters in golden years 

Shall bless our darling boy. 
With happy homes for other eyes 

Expands the future wide ; 
And God will bless our sacrifice, 

The year that Lincoln died. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PEACE. 

The cost of the war had been very terrible. On the 
Northern side, two milHon seven hundred thousand men bore 
arms at some period of the war. Of these there died in 
battle, or in hospital of wounds received in battle, ninety- 
six thousand men. There died in hospital of disease, one hun- 
dred and eighty-four thousand. Many went home wounded, 
to die among the scenes of their infancy. Many went home 
stricken with lingering and mortal disease. Of these there 
is no record but in the sad memories which haunt nearly 
every Northern home. 

In nearly all civil strifes, until now, the woe which waits 
upon the vanquished has been mercilessly inflicted. After 
resistance has ceased, the grim scaffold is set up, and brave 
men who have escaped the sword stoop to the fatal axe. It 
was assumed by many that the Americans would avenge 
themselves according to the ancient usage. Here, again, it 
was the privilege of America to present a noble example to 
other nations. Nearly every Northern man had lost relative 
or friend. But there was no cry for vengeance. There was 
no feehng of bitterness. Excepting in battle, no drop of blood 
was shed by the Northern people. The great republic had 
been not merely strong, resolute, enduring ; it was also sin- 
gularly and nobly humane. 

Jefferson Davis fled southward on that memorable Sunday 
when the sexton of St. Paul's Ckurch handed to him General 



1865. Capture of Jefferson Davis. 489 

Lee's message. He had need to be diligent, for a party of 
American cavalry were quickly upon his track. They fol- 
lowed him through gaunt pine wildernesses, across rivers and 
dreary swamps, past the huts of wondering settlers, until at 
length they came upon him near a little town in Georgia. 
They quietly surrounded his party. Davis assumed the gar- 
ments of his wife. The soldiers saw at first nothing more 
formidable than an elderly and not very well-dressed female. 
But the unfeminine boots which he wore led to closer inspec- 
tion, and quickly the fallen President stood disclosed to his 
deriding enemies. 

There was at first suspicion that Davis encouraged the 
assassination of the President. Could that have been proved, 
he would have died by the hand of the hangman. But it 
became evident, on due examination being made, that he 
was not guilty of this crime. For a time the American peo- 
ple regarded Davis with just indignation, as the chief cause 
of all the bloodshed which had taken place. Gradually their 
anger relaxed into a kind of grim, contemptuous playfulness. 
He was to be put upon his trial for treason. Frequently a 
time was named when the trial would begin. But the time 
never came. Ultimately Davis was set at liberty. 

What were the Americans to do with the million of armed 
men now in their employment? It was beheved in Europe 
that these men would never return to peaceful labor. Gov- 
ernment could not venture to turn them loose upon the 
country. Military employment must be found for them, and 
would probably be found in foreign wars. 

While yet pubhc writers in Europe occupied themselves 
with these dark anticipations, the American government, all 
unaware of difficulty, ordered its armies to march on Wash- 
ington. During two days the bronzed veterans who had 
followed Grant and Sherman in so many bloody fights passed 
through the city. Vast multitudes from all parts of the 



490 Young Folks' History of America. 

Union looked on with a proud but chastened joy. And 
then, just as quickly as the men could be paid the sums 
which were due to them, they gave back the arms they had 
used so bravely, and returned to their homes. It was only six 
weeks since Richmond fell, and already the work of disband- 
ing was well advanced. The men who had fought this war 
were, for the most part, citizens who had freely taken up arms 
to defend the national hfe. They did not love war, and when 
their work was done they thankfully resumed their ordinary 
employments. Very speedily the American army numbered 
only forty thousand men. Europe, when she grows a little 
wiser, will follow the American example. The wasteful folly 
of maintaining huge standing armies in time of peace is not 
destined to disgrace the world for ever. 

What was the position of the Confederate States when the 
war closed ? Were they provinces conquered by the Union 
armies, to be dealt with as the conquerors might deem neces- 
sary ; or were they, in spite of all they had done, still mem- 
bers of the Union, as of old? The Confederates themselves 
had no doubt on the subject. They had tried their utmost to 
leave the Union. It was impossible to conceal that. But they 
had not been permitted to leave it. They had never left it. As 
they were not out of the Union, it was obvious they were in it. 
And so they claimed to resume their old rights, and re-occupy 
their places in Congress, as if no rebellion had occurred. 

Mr. Lincoln's successor was Andrew Johnson, a man whose 
rough vigor had raised him from the lowly position of tailor 
to the highest office in the country. He was imperfectly 
educated. He clung to the strictly logical view that there 
could be no such thing as secession ; that the rebel States 
had never been out of the Union ; that now there was noth- 
ing required but that the Confederates, having accepted their 
defeat, should resume their old positions, as if "the late 
unpleasantness " had not occurred. 



i868. The Fourteenth Amendment, 491 

The American people were too wise to give heed to the 
logic of the President. They had preserved the life of their 
nation through sacrifices which filled their homes with sor- 
row and privation. They would not be tricked out of the 
advantages which they had bought with so great a price. 
Slavery had imposed upon them a great national peril, which 
it cost them infinite toil to avert. They would take what 
securities it was possible to obtain that no such invasion of 
the national tranquillity should occur again. 

It was out of the position so wrongfully assigned to the 
negro race that this huge disorder had arisen. The North, 
looking at this with eyes which long and sad experience had 
enlightened, resolved that the negro should never again divide 
the sisterhood of States. No root of bitterness should be left 
in the soil. Citizenship was no longer to be dependent upon 
color. The long dishonor offered to the Fathers of Indepen- 
dence was to be cancelled. Henceforth American law would 
present no contradiction to the doctrine that "all men are 
born equal." All men now, born or naturalized in America, 
were to be citizens of the Union and of the State in which 
they resided. No State might henceforth pass any law 
which should abridge the privileges of any class of American 
citizens. 

An amendment to the Constitution was proposed by Con- 
gress to give effect to these principles. It was agreed to by 
the States, not without reluctance on the part of some. The 
Revolution, so vast and so benign, was now complete. The 
negro, who so lately had no rights at all which a white man 
was bound to respect, was now in full possession of every 
right which the white man himself enjoyed. The successor 
of Jefferson Davis in the Senate of the United States was a 
negro ! 

The task of the North was now to " bind up the nation's 
wounds ; " the task to which Mr. Lincoln looked forward so 



492 Yoidng Folks History of America. 

joyfully, and which he would have performed so well. Not 
a moment was lost in entering upon it. The South was 
utterly exhausted and helpless, without food, without cloth- 
ing, without resources of any description. The land alone 
remained. Government provided food, without which pro- 
vision there would have been in many parts of the country a 
great mortality from utter want. 

With little delay the Confederates received the pardon of 
the Government, and applied themselves to the work of re- 
storing their broken fortunes. Happily for them the means 
lay close at hand. Cotton bore still an extravagantly high 
price. The negroes remained, although no longer as slaves. 
They had now to be dealt with as free laborers, whose ser- 
vices could not be obtained otherwise than by the induce- 
ment of adequate wages. In a revolution so vast, difficulties 
were inevitable. But, upon the whole, the black men played 
their part well. It had been said they would not consent to 
labor when they were free to choose. That prediction was 
not fulfilled. When kindly treated and justly paid, they 
showed themselves anxious to work. Very soon it began to 
dawn upon the planters that slavery had been a mistake. 
They found themselves growing rich with a rapidity unknown 
before. Under the old and wasteful system, the growing 
crop of cotton was generally sold to the Northern merchant 
and paid for to the planter before it was gathered. Now it 
had become possible to carry on the business of the planta- 
tion without being in debt at all. 

At first the proud Southerners were slow to accept the 
terms offered them. They had frankly accepted Emancipa- 
tion. They had learned to look upon their slaves as free 
men. But it was hard to look upon them as their equals in 
political privilege. It was hard to see negroes sitting in the 
State legislatures, regulating with supreme authority the con- 
cerns of those who so lately owned them. Some of the 



i868. Restoration of the Union, 493 

States were unable to acquiesce in a change so hateful, and 
continued for five years under military rule. But the North- 
ern will was inflexible. The last rebellious State accepted the 
condition -which the North imposed, and the restoration of 
the Union was at length complete. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

PROSPERITY. 

When the war was over, the Americans addressed them- 
selves sadly and reverently to the work of gathering into 
national cemeteries the bones of those who had fallen. The 
search was long and toilsome. The battle-ground had been 
a continent, and men were buried where they died. Every 
battle-field was searched. Every line by which an army had 
advanced, or by which the wounded had been removed, was 
searched. Sometimes a long train of ambulances had carried 
the wounded to hospitals many miles away. At short inter- 
vals, during that sad journey, it was told that a man had died. 
The train was stopped ; the dead man was lifted from beside 
his dying companions, a shallow grave was dug, and the 
body, still warm, was laid in it. A soldier cut a branch from 
a tree, flattened its end with his knife, and wrote upon it the 
dead man's name. This was all that marked his lowly rest- 
ing-place. The honored dead, scattered thus over the conti- 
nent, were now piously gathered up. For many miles around 
Petersburg the ground was full of graves. During several 
years men were employed in the melancholy search among 
the ruins of the wide-stretching lines. In some cemeteries 
lie ten thousand, in others twenty thousand, of the men who 
died for the nation. An iron tablet records the name of 
the soldier and the battle in which he died. Often, alas ! 
the record is merely that of " Unknown Soldier." Over the 
graves floats the flag which those who sleep below loved so 



1867. The National Cemeteries. ^gy 

well. Nothing in America is more touching than her national 
cemeteries. So much brave young life given freely, that the 
nation might be saved ! So much grateful remembrance of 
those who gave this supreme evidence of their devotion ! 

THE patriots' UNKNOWN GRAVES. 

Or where the ring-dove's notes, sweet summer's augur, 
Float from the hillsides o'er the Tennessee, 

Or by the James, or by the Chickamauga, 
Or where the Gulf winds dip the sails a-lee. 

Or where the Schuylkill cleaves the vernal shadows, 
Or stretches far the commerce-gathering arms 

Of the broad Hudson, through the freshened meadows 
Of village rims and harvest-blooming farms, 

Where'er we meet the friends once fondly cherished. 
And hands all warm with old affection take. 

Breathe ye with love the names of those who perished 
And sleep in graves unknown, for freedom's sake. 

The wooded slope of Chattanooga shadows 

The level fields where they repose, alone ; 
In serried rows in Arlington's green meadows. 

Their headstones speak the one sad word, " Unknown.^'' 

In silver airs we hear the bugles blowing 
The notes of peace on Freedom's natal days ; 

They hear no more, in sweet, suave numbers flowing. 
The strains that raise the patriot-hero's praise. 

Balm-breathing Junes, to old home-farms returning, 
Bear from green fields no pleasant airs to them, 

Nor rose and lily's odorous censers burning 
In morning suns, from dew-bejewelled stem. 

The west winds blow by Chickamauga River, 
The south winds play the Rapidan beside, 

But they are dead, and we shall see them never, 
Till heaven's armies follow Him who died. 
32 



498 Young Folks'^ History of America. 

The blue Potomac hears no battle marches, 
On Mission Ridge the fruiting fields increase, 

Janus is closed, and o'er her crumbling arches. 
Stands the white angel of the nation's peace. 

Peace ! Let us mingle love's sweet tears with pity's 
For those who oought the heritage we own, 

Who gave their all, and in death's silent cities 
Have but the nameless epitaph, " Unknown.'" 

Rest in peace, ye honored martyrs of liberty ! Alexanders 
may weep for more worlds to conquer ; Caesars may wage 
bloody wars and bring subjugated princes to crown their tri- 
umphal entries into the Eternal City ; Napoleons may sweep 
with the besom of destruction all Europe, from the Tuileries 
to the Kremlin ; but all the treasure expended, and all the 
blood spilled in winning their glittering conquests, are of not so 
much worth in the cause of humanity, and in the sight of God, 
as the humblest of your nameless lives freely offered in de- 
fence of your country. While the spirit that animated you 
shall dwell in the hearts of this people, our broad continent 
shall be your monuiiient ; " Diilce et deconan est pro patria 
i?iori,'' inscribed in letters of light upon our proud flag floating 
free, shall be your epitaph ; and " They died for their country,'' 
shall be your noblest record upon the pages of history. 

The nation had tenderly cared for its soldiers during the 
war. The people estabhshed two great societies, called the 
Sanitary Commission and the Christian Commission. Into 
the coffers of these societies they poured money and other 
contributions to the amount of twenty million dollars. The 
Sanitary Commission sent medical officers of experience into 
the armies to guide ^hem in the choice of healthy situations 
for camps ; to see tmt drainage was not neglected ; to watch 
over the food of tL^ soldiers, and also their clothing; to 
direct the attention of the government to every circumstance 
which threatened evil to the health of the army. Its agents 



1861-65. The Peoples Commissions. 501 

followed the armies with a line of wagons containing all man- 
ner of stores. Every thing the soldier could desire issued 
in profusion from those inexhaustible wagons. There were 
blankets and great-coats and every variety of underclothing. 
There were crutches for the lame, fans to soothe the wounded 
in the burning heat of summer, bandages and sponges and 
ice, and even mosquito-netting for the protection of the poor 
sufferers in hospital. Huge wheeled-caldrons rolled along in 
the rear, and ever, at the close of battle or toilsome march, 
dispensed welcome refreshment to the wearied soldiers. 

The Christian Commission undertook to watch over the 
spiritual wants of the soldiers. Its president was George H. 
Stuart, a merchant of Philadelphia, whose name is held in 
enduring honor as a symbol of all that is wise and energetic 
in Christian beneficence. Under the auspices of this society 
thousands of clergymen left their congregations and went to 
minister to the soldiers. A copious supply of Bibles, tracts, 
hymn-books, and similar reading matter was furnished. The 
agents of the Commission preached to the soldiers, conversed 
with them, supplied them with books, aided them in com- 
municating with friends at home. But they had sterner duties 
than these to discharge. They had to seek the wounded on 
the field and in the hospital ; to bind up their wounds ; to 
prepare for them such food or drink as they could use ; in 
every way possible to soothe the agony of the brave men who 
were giving their lives that the nation might be saved. Hun- 
dreds of ladies were thus engaged tending the wounded and 
sick, speaking to them about their spiritual interests, cooking • 
for them such dishes as might tempt the languid appetite. 
The dying soldier was tenderly cared for. The last loving 
message was conveyed to the friends in the far-off home. 
Nothing was left undone which could express to the men who 
gave this costly evidence of their patriotism the gratitude 
with which the country regarded them, 



502 Young Folks History of America. 

The fall of slavery relieved America from the chief hin- 
derance to her progress, and the country resumed her career 
of peaceful industry. The ten years which followed Mr. Lin- 
coln's first election witnessed great changes. The population 
of thirty- one millions had grown to forty millions, and was 
increasing at the rate of a million annually. From all Euro- 
pean countries the enterprising and the needy flocked into 
the Eastern States. Asia was sending her thousands to the 
West, — the first drops of an ample shower beneficial alike 
to her that gives and her that takes. Every year three 
hundred and fifty thousand emigrants sought a home in the 
great repubhc. The annual earnings of the people were 
estimated at thousands of millions. There were forty- 
eight thousand miles of railroad in operation, and twenty 
thousand miles in course of formation. The iron highway 
stretched across the continent, and men travelled now in five 
or six days from New York to San Francisco. Notwithstand- 
ing the enormous waste of the war, the wealth of the people 
had nearly doubled. And yet the great mass of the rich lands 
which America possessed lay unused. Of nearly two thou- 
sand millions of acres only five hundred millions had been 
even surveyed. In the vast residue, yet useless to man, the 
Great Father had made inexhaustible provision for the wants 
of his children. 

Although slavery had fallen, many evils remained to vex 
the American people. The debt incurred in putting down 
the Rebellion was large, and the management of the finances 
became a most important poHtical issue. 

The triumphs of peace now began. The Atlantic Cable 
uniting the United States and England was successfully laid 
in 1866. Alaska was purchased from the Russian govern- 
ment in 1867. General Ulysses S. Grant was elected Presi- 
dent by a great majority in 1868, and after his inauguration 
the leading public questions and issues which had grown out 



1876. The Centennial. 505 

of the war began to be peaceably settled, and a remarkable 
reduction of the war debt took place year by year. The 
Union Pacific Railroad, a grand work whose inception is 
due to a much-maligned capitalist, Hon. Oakes Ames, who 
offered his fortune that the enterprise might save the Pacific 
States to the Union at a time of uncertainty and depression, 
now linked together the East and West. In 1870 the Fif- 
teenth Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing to every 
man the right of suffrage, having been ratified by the legisla- 
tures of two thirds of the States, became a part of the national 
law. General amnesty was proclaimed to those who had 
taken arms against the government. In 1872 General Grant 
was re-elected by another great majority. 

The Centennial, a world's fair held at Philadelphia on the 
one hundredth year of Independence, was the great event 
of 1876. It opened in May, and brought to Philadelphia 
strangers from all parts of the world. The delightful Penn- 
sylvania Railroad was crowded with trains for months. The 
buildings for the exhibition occupied three hundred acres of 
Fairmount Park. They were industrial palaces, into which 
were gathered the products of all lands. The Emperor of 
Brazil was present. At the opening six hundred voices sang 
the Hallelujah Chorus, cannon thundered, and the bells of 
the city rang for joy. The main building of the exhibition 
covered twenty-one acres. Memorial Hall, an art gallery 
built by the State of Pennsylvania, alone cost ^1,500,000. 
Machinery Hall, another building, was fourteen hundred feet 
long. In the main building thirty-five countries were repre- 
sented. 

On the 7th of November, 1876, the national election 
resulted in a nearly drawn battle between the two great polit- 
ical parties. The Republican candidate for President was 
Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, and the Democratic candi- 
date, Samuel J. Tilden of New York. Mr. Tilden had a 



5o6 Young Folks History of America. 

popular majority, but Mr. Hayes had a majority of one in 
the final count of the national electors. No great political 
events occurred during Mr. Hayes's administration, but 
among the Presidents during years of peace, few have won 
such general esteem. Himself a Christian gentleman, of 
broad and cultured views, his administration will long influ- 
ence the future by its high aims and moral power. In 1880 
General James -A. Garfield, Republican, was elected Presi- 
dent. The Republican party have thus been in power twenty 
years. 

The sunhght falls on no people more happy and prosper- 
ous. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, all the wheels of 
industry are in motion ; the wheat fields multiply to feed the 
world, the school bell and the church bell ring, prosperity and 
progress are in the air, the land, and the great watercourses, 
and the nation is at peace. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



1880— 1881. 



PRESIDENT GARFIELD — MARQUIS OF LORNE — THE 
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND CAN- 
ADA—CONCLUSION. 

The year 1881, the last of our history, finds America 
in the flood tide of prosperity. 

James A. Garfield was installed in office as the twen- 
tieth President of 
the United States, at 
noon on the 4th of 
March, 1881. The 
simple ceremony, 
which under a re- 
publican form re- 
lieves one citizen of 
the duties of Chief 
Executive of the na- 
tion, and invests an- 
other citizen with 
those same duties, 
was performed in 
the presence of a 
throng of people, 
larger than had ever before witnessed such a scene. 

A brilliant assembly gathered in the Senate Chamber. 
The senators were seated on one side. The galleries were 
filled with notable persons from all parts of the country. 




;:•::?<!' 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



5IO Young Folks' History of America. 

The diplomatic corps, headed by the British Minister, Sir 
Edward Thornton, resplendent in court costumes ; the jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court in their silk robes ; General 
Hancock, and a throng of the best-known men in the 
country, — entered the chamber before twelve o'clock, and 
took seats assigned to them. President Hayes and Mr. 
Garfield, followed by Mr. Chester A. Arthur, the Vice- 
President elect, and, finally, the House of Representatives, 
headed by Speaker Randall, entered ; and in presence of 
this assembly the oath of office was administered to the 
new Vice-President. After this had been done, the whole 
body of witnesses repaired to the eastern portico, where a 
platform had been erected for the President and those who 
were entitled by official or personal position to be present. 

General Garfield then arose, and, after taking the oath 
of office, read in a loud, clear voice his inaugural address, 
and the inauguration ceremonies were ended. 

General Garfield was born in the township of Orange, 
Ohio, fifteen miles from Cleveland, on November 19, 183 1. 
His father and mother were of New England stock, and he 
was the youngest of four children. 

Through his own exertions he obtained an academical 
and collegiate education, graduating with honor at Wil- 
liams College, at WiUiamstown, Massachusetts, in 1856. 
He was immediately chosen professor in a college at 
Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, and two years afterwards 
became president of the college. 

In 186 1, when the war broke out, he was chosen colonel of 
the 42d Ohio Regiment. His army service was highly 
honorable. He was very soon in command of a brigade, 
served through the Western campaigns, and was made a 
major-general for his services at the battle of Chickamauga. 

While absent in the field he was nominated and elected 
to Congress, and from 1863 to 1880 continued to represent 



1 88 1. President Garfield's Cabinet. 511 

his district. He was chosen, by the Legislature of Ohio, a 
United States senator for the six years' term, beginning 
March 4, 1881, but was- subsequently elected to the presi- 
dency of the nation. * 

A view of the political history, of the Cabinet of Presi- 
dent Garfield well illustrates the genius, results, and prom- 
ises of American institutions. 

The Secretary of State, and leader in the new Cabinet, 
is Senator James G. Blaine, of Maine. Mr. Blaine is a 
native of Pennsylvania, but has resided in Maine for more 
than twent^'-five years. He represented the third district 
of Maine in Congress from 1863 until 1876, and the State of 
Maine, in the Senate, from 1876 until the present time. 
He was six years Speaker of the national House. In 1876, 
and also in 1880, he was one of the leading candidates 
before the Republican Convention for President. 

Mr. William Windom, Secretary of the Treasury, is a 
native of Ohio. He removed to Minnesota in 1853. On 
the admission of that State in 1858, he was chosen its 
representative in Congress. After a service of ten years 
in that capacity, he was appointed a senator in 1870, 
chosen for a full term in 187 1, and in 1877 re-elected for 
the term ending in 1883. He received the votes of Minne- 
sota for the presidential nomination at the Chicago Con- 
vention last year. 

Senator Samuel J. Rirkwood, of Iowa, is the new Secre- 
tary of the Interior. He was born in Maryland, lived 
twenty years in Ohio, has been three times elected gover- 
nor of Iowa, and was for the second time a senator when 
he was appointed a member of the Cabinet. 

Mr. Robert T. Lincoln, Secretary of War, is the only 
surviving son of President Lincoln. He is a lawyer of 
Chicago, and has never before held office. 

Judge William H. Hunt, of Louisiana, represents the 



512 Young Folks History of America. 

South in the new Cabinet, as Secretary of the Navy. He 
is a native of South Carohna, but has long hved in Loui- 
siana. He was appointed by President Hayes a Judge of 
the United States Court of Claims, and is transferred from 
that position to the Cabinet. 

The Attorney-General is Mr. Wayne MacVeagh, of Penn- 
sylvania. He has long been a prominent lawyer of Penn- 
sylvania. 

Mr. Thomas L. James, the Postmaster General, is a 
native and citizen of New York, and was formerly an editor. 
During the past eight years he. has been postmaster of New 
York City, and has won the reputation of being one of the 
best postmasters the city ever had. 

The census of the United States shows that the popula- 
tion of the country is upwards of fifty millions, the exact 
number, according to the first returns, which may be slightly 
changed hereafter, being 50,152,559. This is an increase 
of 11,600,000 during ten years, or at the rate of more than 
a million a year. 

The increase during the last ten years is very much the 
largest ever made in that length of time. 

Indeed the growth of the country lacks but little of being 
as great as the entire population of the United States in 
1830, half a century ago. The three States of New York, 
Pennsylvania, and Ohio now contain 12,563,705 inhabi- 
tants ; and in 1830 the wdiole country had but 12,866,020. 

The increase has been very general. The States of 
northern New England have grown the least, those of the 
South and West the most ; but not a single State or Terri- 
tory has as few inhabitants now as it had in 1870. 

CANADA. 

The appointment of the Marquis of Lome' in 1878 to 
succeed Earl Dufferin as governor-general of Canada, was 



i88i. Dominion of Canada. 513 

a very interesting event. His high rank, the fact of his 
marriage with the daughter of the Queen of England, his 
youth, and his fine talents made his selection for the high 
post a pecuharly brilliant and striking one. 

The Marquis of Lome is the eldest son of the Duke of 
Argyll, one of the greatest and most powerful Scottish 
nobles, whose family has long been eminent in statesman- 
ship and military fame. The duke himself has for many 
years occupied a conspicuous place in England as a Liberal 
leader, and has held some of the highest cabinet offices. 

Several years ago the Marquis of Lome, then a young 
man, who had just become a member of the House of 
Commons, was attracted by the beauty and graces of 
the Princess Louise, the queen's fourth daughter. 

The marquis's attachment was returned by the princess ; 
but no member of the English royal family for two centu- 
ries had ever married any one not of royal blood. The 
Queen at last assented to the union. 

The marriage, however, cut off from the young marquis 
the prospect of an eminent political career at home. It 
would not do for one closely connected with the royal 
family to enter actively into political contests, to become 
the chief of a party, or to aspire to a seat in the cabinet ; 
for the English people are very jealous of royal interfer- 
encCj and the marquis's elevation, no matter how much 
deserved, would give rise to suspicions of undue royal 
influence. 

The Canadians are justly proud that a daughter of the 
queen presides over the governor-general's household and 
dispenses its hospitalities. * • 

The area of the Dominion of Canada is three million 
five hundred thousand square miles, which is more than 
that of the United States, and but little less than the 
whole of Europe. 



514 Young. Folks History of America. 

The political situation of the Dominion of Canada is a 
curious one. It is doubtful whether a similar instance can 
be found in the history of the world. On the one hand, it 
is a dependency of Great Britain. It is presided over by a 
governor-general, appointed by the British Prime Minister, 
who receives from the British treasury a salary of fifty 
thousand dollars a year, and who is the executive of the 
Dominion. It is protected by British troops, and it is 
divided into provinces, presided over by lieutenant-gov- 
ernors appointed by the Crown. 

On the other hand, Canada has complete control over its 
local affairs. Its Legislature comprises a Senate, the mem- 
bers of which are chosen for life by the governor-general, 
and a House of Commons, elected by the people for the 
period of five years. There is also a Cabinet, which comes 
into and goes out of office just as the English Cabinet does, 
according as it is supported or not by the House of Com- 
mons. 

The Canadian Parliament votes taxes and expenditures, 
regulates, police, and has generally complete legislative 
control, subject to the veto of the governor-general, which, 
as a matter of fact, is never used, any more than is that of 
the Queen of England. 

There are two political parties in Canada, corresponding 
to those in England, and called '' Liberals " and "Con- 
servatives." 

One of the principal questions which divide these Cana- 
dian parties is that of the commercial policy of the Domin- 
ion. The Liberals incline to free trade, and to an arrange- 
ment with the United States which will allow the goods 
of the two countries to pass from one to the other with 
the least restriction. The Conservatives, on the other hand, 
favor a more protective policy, and would try to sustain 
Canadian manufactures by a high tariff. 



i88i. Dominion of Canada. 515 

The population of Canada in 1861 was 3,090,561, 
exclusive of Indians in the North-west and Hudson Bay 
Territories; in 1871 it was 3,906,810, a remarkable increase 
in ten years. 

The names of the Provinces and their population are as 
follows : — 

Ontario 1,620,842 

Quebec 1,191,505 

Nova Scotia 387,800 

New Brunswick 285,777 

Manitoba 13,000 

British Columbia, including Indians . . . 35,000 

All the industries of Canada, the building of ships, the 
fisheries, the products of the forests, the lumber trade, and 
even agriculture, are growing and highly successful, and 
the Dominion is enjoying a golden age of peace and pros- 
perity almost as bright as were the dreams of Acadia of 
old. 



5i6 



Young Folks History of America, 



PRESIDENTS AND 



VICE-PRESIDENTS 

STATES. 



OF THE UNITED 



Presidents. 


Vice-Presidents. 


Name. 


Qualified. 


Name. 


Qualified. 


George Washington . . 


1789 


John Adams 


1789 


George Washingtofl 


1793 


John Adams . . 






1793 


John Adams 


1797 


Thomas Jefferson 






1797 


Thomas Jefferson . . . 


1801 


Aaron Burr . . 






1 801 


Thomas Jefferson . . . 


1805 


George Chnton . 






1805 


James Madison .... 


1809 


George Clinton . 






1809 


James Madison .... 


1813 


Elbridge Gerry . . 
* John Gaillard . 






1813 
1814 


James Monroe .... 


1817 


Daniel D. Tompkins 




1817 


James Monroe .... 


1821 


Daniel D. Tompkins 




1821 


John Quincy Adams . . 


1825 


John C. Calhoun 




1825 


Andrew Jackson .... 


1829 


John C. Calhoun . 




1829 


Andrew Jackson .... 


1833 


Martin Van Buren . 




1833 


Martin Van Buren . . . 


1837 


Richard M. Johnson 




1837 


Wm. Henry Harrison . . 


1841 


John Tyler ... 




1841 


John Tyler .... 


1841 


* Samuel L. Southard 

* Willie P. Mangum 




1841 
1842 


James K. Polk .... 


1845 


George M. Dallas . 




1845 


Zachary Taylor .... 


1849 


Millard Fillmore 




1849 


Millard Fillmore . . . 


1850 


*Winiam R. King . 




1850 


Franklin Pierce .... 


1853 


William R. King . 

* David R. Atchison 

* Jesse D. Bright . 




1853 
1853 
1854 


James Buchanan . . . 


1857 


John C. Breckinridge . 




1857 


Abraham Lincoln . . . 


1861 


Hannibal Hamlin . 




1861 


Abraham Lincoln . . . 


1865 


Andrew Johnson 




1865 


Andrew Johnson . . . 


1865 


* Lafayette S. Foster 

* Benjamin F. Wade 




1865 
1867 


Ulysses S. Grant . . . 


1869 


Schuyler Colfax . 




1869 


Ulysses S. Grant . . . 


1873 


Henry Wilson . . 
* Thomas W. Ferry 




1873 

1875 


Rutherford B. Hayes . . 


1877 


William A. Wheeler 




1877 


James A. Garfield . . . 


1881 


Chester A. Arthur . 




1881 



* Acting Vice-President and President /ro tern, of the Senate. 



i88o. 



Census Returns. 



517 



POPULATION AND AREA OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES. 



States. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware '. 

Florida 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana . 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Nevada . 

New Hampshire 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina 

Ohio . . . •• 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Vermont 

Virginia 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Territories. 

Arizona 

Dakota ........ 

District of Columbia .... 

Idaho 

Montana 

New Mexico 

Utah_ 

Washington 

Wyoming 

Total 

Alaska 

Indian 

Indians not taxed 



Population. 


Area in 
Square 
Miles. 


1880. 


1870. 


1,262,794 


996,992 


50,722 


802,564 


■ 484,47J[ 


52,198 


864,686 


560,247 


157,801 


194,649 


39,864 


104,500 


622,683 


537=454 


4,750 


146,654 


125,0x5 


2,120 


267,351 


187,748 


59,268 


1,539,048 


1,184,109 


58,000 


3,078,769 


2,539,891 


55,410 


1,978,362 


1,680,637 


33,809 


1,624,620 


1,194,020 


55,045 


995,966 


364=399 


80,891 


1,648,708 


I,32I,OXX 


37,680 


940, 103 


726,915 


41,346 


648,945 


626,915 


35=000 


934,632 


780,894 


11,124 


1,783,012 


1=457,35^ 


7,800 


1,636,331 


1,184,059 


56,451 


780,806 


439,706 


83,531 


1,131,592 


827,922 


47,156 


2,168,804 


1,721,295 


65,350 


452,433 


122,993 


75,995 


62,265 


42,491 


112,090 


346,984 


318,300 


9,280 


1,130,983 


906,096 


8,320 


5,083,810 


4,382,759 


47,000 


1,400,047 


i,07i,36x 


50,704 


3,198,239 


2,665,260 


39=964 


174,767 


90,923 


95,274 


4,282,786 


3,521,95^ 


46,000 


276,528 


217=353 


1,306 


995,622 


705,606 


34,000 


1,542,463 


1,258,520 


45,600 


1,592,574 


818,579 


274,356 


332,286 


330,551 


9,612 


1,512,806 


1,225, x63 


38,352 


6x8,443 


442,0x4 


23,000 


1,315,480 


1,054,670 


53,924 


40,441 


9,658 


113,916 


135,180 


I4,x8x 


150,932 


177,638 


13 x,700 


64 


32,611 


14,999 


86,294 


39,157 


20,595 


143,776 


118,430 


91,874 


121,201 


143,906 


86,786 


84,476 


75, 120 


23,955 


69,994 


20,788 


9,118 


97.833 


50,152,866 


38,558,371 


2,924,211 


30,178 




577.390 


60,000* 




68,991 



200,000' 



* Lowest estimates. 



5i8 



Young Folks' History of America. 



LIST OF THE CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES 
HAVING A POPULATION OF TEN THOUSAND AND UP- 
WARD, ACCORDING TO THE UNITED STATES CENSUS OF 
1880. 



No. Cities and Towns. 



I 
2 
3 
4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
II 
12 

13 
14 
15 
16 

17 



19 
20 
21 

22 

23 
24 



New York, N. Y. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Chicago, 111. . 
Boston, Mass. . 
St. Louis, Mo. , 
Baltimore, Md. . 
Cincinnati, O. . 
San Francisco, Cal 
New Orleans, La. 
Cleveland, O. 
Pittsburg, Pa. . 
Buffalo, N. Y. . 
Washington, D. C 
Newark, N.J. . 
Louisville, Ky. . 
Jersey City, N.J. 
18 ; Detroit, Mich. . 
Milwaukee, Wis. 
Providence, R. I. 
Albany, N. Y. . 
Rochester, N. Y. 
Allegheny, Pa. . 
Indianapolis, Ind. 
Richmond, Va. . 

26 I New Haven, Conn. 

27 jLowell, Mass. . 

28 i Worcester, Mass. 
Troy, N. Y. . . 
Kansas City, Mo. 
Cambridge, Mass. 
Syracuse, N, Y. 
Columbus, O. 
Paterson, N. J. . 

^j Toledo, O. 

36 jCharleston, S. C. 

37 jFall River, Mass. 

38 JMinneapolis, Minn 

39 iScranton, Pa. 

40 Nashville, Tenn. 

41 Reading, Pa. 

42 Hartford, Conn. 

43 I Wilmington, Del. 

44 ICamden, N. J. . 

45 1st. Paul, Minn. 




1,206,590 

846,984 

566,689 

503.304 

362,535 
350,522 

332,190 

255,708 

233^956 
216,140 
160,142 
156,381 
155,137 
147,307 
136,400 
123,645 
120,728 
116,342 

115,57s 

104,850 

90,903 

89,363 
78,681 

75,074 
63,803 
62,882 

59,485 
58,295 
56,747 
55,813 
52,740 
51,791 
51,665 

50,887 
50,143 
49,999 
49,006 
46,887 
45,850 

43,461 
43,280 

42,553 
42,499 
41,658 
41,498 



49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 

57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 

63 

64 

65 
66 

67 
68 

69 

70 

71 

72 
1Z 
74 
75 
76 

78 

79 
80 
81 
82 

85 

86 
87 



90 




Lawrence, Mass. 
Dayton, O. . 
Lynn, Mass. . 
Denver, Col. . 
Oakland, Cal. 
Atlanta, Ga. . 
Utica, N. Y. . 
Portland, Me. 
Memphis, Tenn. 
Springfield, Mass. 
Manchester, N. H. 
St. Joseph, Mo.. 
Grand Rapids, Mich 
Wheeling, W. Va. 
Mobile, Ala. . . 
Hoboken, N. J. . 
Harrisburgh, Pa. 
Savannah, Ga. . 
Omaha, Neb. . 
Trenton, N. J. . 
Covington, Ky. . 
Peoria, 111. . . 
Evansville, Ind. 
Bridgeport, Conn. 
Elizabeth, N. J. 
Erie, Pa. . . . 
Salem, Mass 
Quincy, 111. . 
Fort Wayne, Ind. 
New Bedford, Mas 
Terre Haute, Ind. 
Lancaster, Pa. . 
Somerville, Mass. 
Wilkesbarre, Pa. 
Augusta, Ga. . . 
Des Moines, Iowa 
Dubuque, Iowa . 
Galveston, Tex. 
Watervliet, N. Y. 
Norfolk, Va. . . 
Auburn, N. Y. . 
Holyoke, Mass. . 
Davenport, Iowa 
Chelsea, Mass. . 
Petersburgh, Va. 



39,178 

38,677 
38,284 

35,630 
34,556 
34,398 

33,913 
33,810 

33,593 
33,340 
32,630 

32,484 
32,015 
31,266 
31,205 

30,999 
30,762 
30,681 
30,518 
29,910 
29,720 

29^3^5 
29,280 
29,148 
28,229 
27,730 
27,598 
27,275 
26,8:io 
26,875 
26,040 

25,769 
24,985 

23,339 
23,023 
22,408 
22,254 
22,253 
22,220 
21,966 
21,924 
21,851 
21,8m 

21,785 

21,656 



i88o. 



Census Rettims. 



519 



LIST OF CITIES AND T0^^%. — Continued. 



Cities and Towns. 



Sacramento. Cal 
Taunton, Mass. 
Norwich, Conn. 
Oswego, N. Y. 
Salt Lake City, Utah 
Springfield, O. . 
Bay City, Mich. 
San Antonio, Tex 
Elmira, N. Y. . 
Newport, Ky. 
Waterbury, Conn. 
Poughkeepsie, N. 
Springfield, 111. . 
Altoona, Pa. . . 
Burlington, Iowa 
Cohoes, N. Y. . 
Gloucester, Mass. 
Lewiston, Me. . 
Pawtucket, R. I. 
East Saginaw, Mic 
Williamsport, Pa. 
Yonkers, N. Y. . 
Houston, Tex. . 
Haverhill, Mass. 
Lake Township, 111 
Kingston, N. Y'. 
Meriden, Conn. . 
Hempstead, N. Y. 
Zanesville, O. . 
Allentown, Pa. . 
Council Bluffs, Iowa 
Newburgh, N. Y. 
Wilmington, N. C. 
Binghamton, N. Y 
Bloomingt n, 111. 
New Brunswick, N.J. 
Long Island City, N 
Newton, Mass. . 
Bangor, Me. . . 
Montgomery, Ala. 
Lexington, Ky. . 
Johnstown, N. Y. 
Leavenworth, Kan 
Akron, O. . . 
New Albany, Ind. 
Joliet, 111. . . 
Jackson, Mich. . 
Woonsocket, R. I. 
Racine, Wis. . . 
Lynchburg, Va. . 



Popu- 
lation 



21,420 
21,213 
21,141 
21,117 
20,768 
20,729 
20,693 
20,561 
20,541 

20,433 

20,269 

20,207 

9.746 

9,716 

9,450 
9,417 
9,329 
9,oS3 

9,030 
9,016 

8,934 
8,892 
8,646 

8,475 
8,396 
8,342 
8,340 
8,160 

8.T20 

8^063 
8,059 

8,050 

7,361 

7,315 
7,184 

7,167 

7,Ti7 
6,995 
6,857 
6,714 
6,656 
6,626 

6,550 
6,512 
6,422 

6,145 
6,105 

6,053 
6,031 

5,959 



No, 



141 

142 

143 
144 

H5 
146 

T47 
148 
149 
150 

15T 

152 

153 
•54 

155 
156 

•57 
158 

•59 
]6o 
161 
162 

•63 
164 
165 
166 
167 
168 
169 
170 

•71 
172 

^n 
174 

•75 
176 
177 
178 

179 

180 
181 
182 

183 
184 
185 
186 
1S7 
188 
1S9 
190 



Cities and Towns. 



Flushing, N. Y. 
Sandusky, O. 
Oshkosh, Wis. . 
Hyde Park, 111. . 
Newport, R. I. . 
Topeka, Kan. 
Youngstown, O. 
Atchison, Kan. . 
Chester, Pa. . 
Lafayette, Ind. . 
Leadville, Col. . 
La Crosse, Wis. 
New Britain, Conn 
Norwalk, Conn. . 
York, Pa. . . . 
Concord, N. H. 
Lincoln, R. I. 
Virginia City, Nev. 
New Lots, N. Y. 
Schenectady, N. Y. 
Alexandria, Va. . 
Brockton, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass 
Lockport, N. Y. 
Nashua, N. H. . 
Pittsfield, Mass. 
South Bend, Ind. 
Pottsville, Pa. . 
Orange, N. J. . 
Little Rock, Ark. 
Rockford, 111. . 
Fond-du-Lac, Wis 
Norristown, Pa. 
Lincoln, Neb. . 
Chattanooga, Tenn 
Macon, Ga. . . 
Richmond, Ind. 
Castleton, N. Y. 
Cortlandt, N. Y. 
Biddeford, Me. . 
Georgetown, D. C. 
San Jose, Cal. . 
Fitchburg, Mass. 
Canton, O. 
Northampton, Mass 
Warwick, R. 1. . 
Rutland, Vt. . . 
Hamilton, O. 
Keokuk, Iowa . 
Steubenville, O. . 



Popu- 
lation. 

15,919 
15,838 
15,749 
15,716 

15,693 
15,451 
•5,431 
15,106 
14,996 
14,860 
14,820 

14,505 
13,978 
13,956 
13,940 

13,765 

13,705 
13,681 

13,675 
13,658 
13,608 

13,537 
13,522 
^3,397 
^3,367 
13,279 
13,253 
13,206 
13,185 
L3,T36 
13,091 
13,064 
13,004 
12,892 
12,748 

12,743 
12,679 
12,664 
12,652 
12,578 
12,567 
12,405 
12,258 
12,172 
12,163 
12,149 
12,122 
12,117 
12,093 



^20 



Young Folks History of America. 



LIST OF CITIES AND TQiSN^i^'i. — Continued. 



No. 


Cities and Towns. 


T^.x^n; No. 


Cities and Towns. 


Popu- 






LATION. 




lation. 


191 


Rome, N.Y 


12,045 2T9 


Austin, Tex. 


10,960 


192 


Maiden, Mass. . 




12,017 


220 


Chilicothe, 0. . . . 


10.938 


193 


Kalamazoo, Mich. 




",937 


221 


Woburn, Mass. • . . 


10,938 


194 


Easton, Pa. . . 




11,924 


222 


Jacksonville, 111. . . 


10,927 


195 


Oyster Bay, N. Y. 




TT,923 


223 


Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 


10,822 


196 


Aurora, 111. . 




11,825 


224 


Fishkill, N. Y. . . . 


10,732 


197 


Vicksburg, Miss. 




11,814 


225 


Watertown, N. Y. . . 


10,697 


198 


Middletown, Comi. 




^'^^1Z^ 


226 


Belleville, 111. . . . 


10,682 


199 


Amsterdam, N. Y. 




11,711 


227 


Weymouth, Mass. . . 


10,571 


200 


Waltham, Mass. 




IT, 711 


228 


Ouincy, Mass. 


10,529 


201 


Dover, N. H. . 




11,687 


229 


New London, Conn. . 


10,529 


202 


Danbury, Conn 




11,669 


230 


Saginaw, Mich. . . . 


10,525 


203 


Rock Island, 111. . 




IT, 660 


231 


Jeffersonville, Ind. . . 


10,422 


204 


Derby, Conn. . . 




ii;649 


232 


Saugerties, N. Y, . . 


10,375 


205 


Brookhaven, N. Y . 




",544 


^11) 


Dallas, Tex 


10,358 


206 


Wallkill, N. Y. . -. 




",4^3 


234 


Ogdensburgh, N. Y. . 


10,340 


207 


Galesburg, 111. . . 




11,446 


235 


Madison, Wis. . 


10,325 


208 


Portsmouth, Va. 




11,388 


236 


Stockton, Cal. . . . 


10,287 


209 


Burlington, Vt. . . 




",364 


237 


Lenox, N. Y. . , . 


10,249 


210 


Chicopee, Mass. 




",325 


238 


Winona, Minn. . . . 


10,208 


2ir 


Portsmouth, O. . . 




",3^4 


239 


North Adams, Mass. . 


10,192 


212 


Los Angeles, Cal. . 




",3" 


240 


Shenandoah, Pa. . . 


10,148 


213 


Stamford, Conn. 




11,298 


241 


Marlborough, Mass. . 


10,126 


214 


Muskegon, Mich. . 




11,262 


242 


Eau Claire. Wis. . . 


io,it8 


215 


Logansport, Ind. . 




11,198 


243 


Cedar Rapids, Iowa . 


10,104 


216 


Attleborough, Mass 




II, TIT 


244 


Jamaica, N. Y. . . . 


10,089 


217 


Hannibal, Mo. . . 




11,074 


245 


Columbia, S. C. . . . 


10.040 


218 


Shreveport, La. . . 




11,017 1 







CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



B. C. ' PAGE 

400. American continent known to the ancients ... 13 

The Mysterious Races 13 

The Mound-builders 19 

A. D. 

1436. Birth of Columbus 30 

1492. Columbus discovered the West Indies 35 

1497. North American continent discovered by the Cabots 37 

1497-8, Americus Vespucius lands in South America . . 45 

15 12. Florida visited by Ponce de Leon 51 

1513. Pacific Ocean seen by Balboa 51 

1 52 1. Cortez captured Montezuma 51 

1534. Jacques Cartier on coast of Labrador 59 

1535. Cartier founds Montreal 6;^ 

1539. Ferdinand De Soto lands in Florida 44 

1602. James L ascended the throne 93 

Gosnold discovered Cape Cod ....... 51 

1604. Port Royal visited by De Monts 86 

1606. London Company chartered 64 

1607. Settlement at Jamestown, Va 67 

1608. Quebec founded by Champlain . 52 

Captain John Smith in Virginia ....... 67 

Mr. Robinson's congregation flee to Holland . . 94 

1609. Henry Hudson explores the Hudson River ... 52 

i6to. Poutrincourt returned to Port Royal 89 

1 6 16. Pocahontas at the English Court 83 



522 Young Folks History of Ainerica, 

1620. Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth 98 

1621. Massasoit visits Plymouth 100 

1623. Dutch settled on Manhattan Island 136 

1636. Harvard College founded 113 

Rhode Island settled by Roger Williams .... 166 

1643. First Confederation of the Colonies 114 

1660. Granary Burying-ground first used 242 

1661. Quakers released by the king's letter 173 

1664. New Amsterdam taken by the English and named 

, New York 139 

1673. Marquette and Joliet discover the Mississippi . . 332 

1675. King Philip's War 119 

1682. Pennsylvania founded by William Penn .... 143 

Robert La Salle descends the Mississippi, and is 

killed in Texas 332 

1688. Population of Virginia 50,000 75 

Witchcraft in New England . 163 

1706. Deerfield and Haverhill sacked by Indians . . . 335 

1732. George Washington born, Feb. 22 180 

1733- Oglethorpe settled in Georgia 148 

1736. The Wesleys in Georgia 155 

1744. Chime of bells placed in Christ Church, Boston . 242 

1749. Slave-trade encouraged by Parliament 340 

1752, Franklin proves lightning to be electricity . . . 185 

1754. French and English war begun 335 

Washington's surrender at Fort Necessity . . . 188 

1755. Braddock's defeat 193 

1759. Wolfe captured Quebec. Death of Wolfe . . . 197 

1764. Eve of the Revolution 202 

1765. Stamp Act passed by Parliament 204 

1766. Stamp Act repealed ... 1 206 

1768. Arkwright invents the spinning-jenny 351 

1770. Boston ladies pledge themselves not to drink tea . 233 

1773. Destruction of tea at Boston 211 

1774. First Congress met at Philadelphia 212 

Boston closed as a port of landing 211 

1775. Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19 . . . 217 



Chronological Table. 523 

1775. Allen and Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga, 

May 10 249 

English ships-of-war anchored in Boston harbor . 254 

Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17 257 

Washington took command of the army . . . 262 

"Yankee Doodle" written 265 

1776. Boston evacuated by the British, March 17 . . . 265 

German boy's funeral 231 

Opposition to slavery 345 

Declaration of Independence adopted by Congress, 

July 4 270 

Battle of Long Island 276 

Washington crossed the Hudson 276 

Washington crossed the Delaware 279 

Washington victorious at Trenton, Dec. 26 . . . 280 

1777. British defeated at Princeton 280 

Lafayette joined the American army 281 

Howe landed near Philadelphia, Aug. 25 ; entered 

the city, Sept. 26 283 

Battle of Germantown, Oct. 4 284 

Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, Oct. 17 . , . 288 

Washington at Valley Forge . 287 

1780. Capture of Major Andre 293 

1781. A French fleet joins the Americans 297 

Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown 298 

1783. Peace concluded 299 

Washington at home 301 

1787. Constitutional convention at Philadelphia . . . . 306 

Constitution adopted Sept. 17 308 

1789. Washington inaugurated April 30 308 

1 791. Canada divided into two provinces ...... 339 

1792. Eli Whitney invented the cotton-gin 352 

1795. Corner-stone of Boston State House laid .... 238 

1797. John Adams, President 313 

1 80 1. Thomas Jefferson, President 313 

1806. Ports of Europe closed to American vessels . . . 313 

Right of search 314 



524 Yozmg Folks' History of America, 

1809. James Madison, President 313 

Abraham Lincoln born 392 

1812. War with England 316 

Louisiana admitted to the Union 353 

1813. The Shannon captures the Chesapeake .... 320 
1 8 [4 British troops enter Washington and burn the 

pubhc buildings 324 

Peace agreed upon at Ghent, Dec. 24 325 

1815. Battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8 326 

1817. James Monroe, President 355 

1820. The Missouri Compromise 355 

1824. Mexico a i;epublic 363 

1825. John Quincy Adams, President 355 

1826. Deaths of Adams and Jefferson, July 4 330 

Lafayette's visit to the United States 330 

1829. Andrew Jackson, President 355 

1 83 1. James A. Garfield born, Nov. 19 510 

William Lloyd .Garrison . . . ... . ,. . 356 

1832. Lovejoy killed at Alton, 111 358 

1836. Independence of Texas 361 

1837. Martin Van Buren, President 362 

1840. Province of Canada formed 339 

1845. James K. Polk, President 363 

Texas admitted to the Union ........ 362 

1846. Beginning of Mexican war 365 

1849. Gold found in California 371 

Zachary Taylor, President 375 

1853. The Missouri Compromise repealed 376 

1856. Assault on Charles Sumner 387 

1859. John Brown in Kansas and Virginia . . . . . 383 

i860, Abraham Lincoln elected President 388 

Secession of South CaroHna 397 

1861. Lincoln inaugurated President 402 

Jefferson Davis President of the Southern Confed- 
eracy 403 

Attack on Fort Sumter, April 12, 13 411 

Blood shed in Baltimore, April 19 4H 



Chronological Table, 525 

1861. Virginia seceded April 23 418 

Battle of Bull Run, July 21 419 

McClellan, commander-in-chief, July 22 ... 422 

Robert E. Lee in command of the Confederates . 422 

Population of Canada 515 

1862. McClellan's failure on the Peninsula 425 

The Monitor and the Virginia 426 

Capture of Port Royal 428 

Capture of New Orleans, April 25 429 

Victories in the West 429 

Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg .... 439 

1863. Emancipation Proclamation 435 

Siege of Vicksburg 441 

Battle of Chancellorsville 443 

Death of " Stonewall" Jackson 443 

Battle of Gettysburg 445 

1864. General Grant made commander-in-chief. He 

crosses the Rapidan, May 3 456 

Siege of Petersburg 459 

Sherman's march to the sea 460 

Battle of Winchester 463 

1865. Thirteenth amendment adopted 464 

Freedmen's Bureau established 467 

Capture of Richmond 473 

Surrender of General Lee 474 

Assassination of Lincoln, April 14 478 

Union armies mustered out ,1^ . . 489 

1866. Atlantic cable laid 502 

1867. National cemeteries established 496 

Dominion of Canada formed 339 

Alaska purchased from Russia 502 

1868. Fourteenth amendment adopted 491 

Grant elected President 502 

1870. Fifteenth amendment adopted 505 

1 87 1. Population of Canada 515 

1872. Grant re-elected President 505 

1876. The Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia . . . 505 



526 Yoimg Folks' History of America. 

1876. Election of President R. B. Hayes 505 

1878. Marquis of Lome appointed Governor-General of 

Canada 512 

1880. Gen. James A. Garfield elected President . . . 506 

1 88 1. President Garfield inaugurated 509 



INDEX. 



Acadia, story of, 84; colony blotted out 
by the English, 90. 

Acton, 225, 

Acts of Parliament burned, 203. 

Adams, Gov., 242. 

Adams, John, Vice-President, 308 ; Pres- 
ident, 313 : his death, 330; would nev- 
er own a slave, 345. 

Adams, John Quincy, President, 355. 

Adams, Samuel, the true king in Boston, 
208; at the Old South Church, 211; 
at Lexington, 217, 221 ; Governor in 
1795, 23S. ... 

Alaska, remains of Siberian elephant 
found jn, 25 ; purchased from Russia, 
502. 

Alexander and Philip, sons of Massasoit, 
106. 

Alexandria, Confederate flag at, 417 ; 
seized by the Federals, 418. 

Allen, Ethan, 249. 

Alligators cooked by the Indians, 46. 

Alton, III., Mr. Lovejoy killed at, 358. 

Amber on the shores of the Baltic, 14 

Amendment to the Constitution forbid- 
ding slavery, 464 ; the fourteenth, 491 ; 
the fifteenth, 505. 

America, the most grateful of nations, 
282. 

America's name, story of, 45. 

American Antislavery Society organized, 
356. 

American continent known to the an- 
cients, 13. 

American Revolution begun at Concord, 
229. 

Americans arm and drill, 212. 

AmericLis Vespuclus, voyage of, 45, 51. 

Amnesty, general, proclaimed, 505. 

Ancient pueblo pottery, 21. 

Anderson, Major, surrendered Fort Sum- 
ter, 412. 

Andre, Major John, story of, 293. 

Andrew, Gov., statue of, 238. 

Andros, Gov., imprisoned, 241. 

Andros, Lady Anne, 241. 

Annapolis, site of the old Port Royal, 86. 

Annawon, story of capture of, 131. 

Antietam, battle of 439. 

Antislavery riots, 357. 

Apthorp, Madame, 236. 

Area of the States and Territories, 517. 



Arkwright, Richard, invents the spin- 
ning-frame, 350. 

Arlington Heights seized, 418. 

Armies of the Union in Washington, 489 ; 
mustered out, 490. 

Armor of the skeleton in armor, 16, 19. 

Arnold, Benedict, 249 ; his treason, 294. 

Asia to America, access from, easy, 25. 

Asiatic race settled in North America, 
19, 22. 

Atlanta, Ga., captured, 460. 

Atlantic Cable, the, laid, 502. 

Atlantis, island of, 13. 

Aztecs had traditions of the flood, 19. 



Balboa discovered Pacific Ocean, 51. 

Baltimore, blood shed in streets of, 414. 

Baptism and religious instruction with- 
held from slaves, 343. 

Baptism of Indians at Port Royal, 89. 

Baptists banished, j6g; conduct of, 170. 

Barrett's, Col., British at, 225. 

Battle of Lexington, 221. 

Battle of New Orleans, 329. 

Battle- Hymn of the Repulalic, 451. 

Bay of Chaleur explored and described, 
59, 60. 

Beacon Hill, 238 ; bonfires on, 232. 

Beaure.gard, Gen., at Manassas, 418. 

Behring Strait easily crossed, 25. 

Belle Isle, Strait of, Cartier enters, 59. 

Bellingham, Gov., 242. 

Beloeii, Mt., 336. 

Belt of brass tubes found at Fall River, 
Mass., 16. 

Bible, the book of all ages, 56 ; not al- 
lowed to be printed in America, 203. 

Blaine, James G., Secretary of State, 5x1. 

Blockade of American ports, 320. 

Blockade of Confederate ports, 418. 

Blockading decrees repealed, :?i6. 

Booth, assassinator of Pres. Lincoln, 481. 

Boston, England, persecutions at, 94 

Boston, the port closed, 211; full of 
monuments, 237; situation of, 246; 
blockaded, 246. 

Boston Common, English troops en- 
camped on, 207, 217. 

Boston Massacre, the, 208, 242. 

Boucherville, Mt., 336. 

Bowdoin, Gov., 242. 



528 



Young Folks History of America. 



Braddock's, Gen., campaign in Ohio, 189- 

193 ; liis death, 193. 
Brandywine, battle of, 2S3. 
Brewster, Elder, 93; establishes a printing 

press in Holland, 94; his library, 114. 
British Columbia, 339. 
British Islands visited for tin, 14. 
Broke, Capt., 320. 
Brown, John, story of, 380; went to 

Kansas, 3S3 ; at Harper's Ferry, 384; 

trial and death, 387. 
Buchanan, George, the historian, 55. 
Buchanan, James, President, 388. 
Buena-Vista, battle of, 366. 
Buffalo skin means protection, 152. 
Bull Run, battle of, 419 ; results, 420. 
Bunker Hill, battle of, 257. 
Burgoyne's, Gen., campaign from Canada, 

287 ; surrender at Saratoga, 288. 
Burke, Edmund, 186, 205, 212. 
Burnside, Gen., in command, 439. 
Burr, Aaron, Vice-President, 313. 
Bute, Lord, hung in effigy, 235. 
Buttrick, Major John, at Concord fight, 

229. 



Cabot, John, voyages of, 36, 37, 51. 

Cahokia, 111., mound at, 19. 

Calhoun, John C, a champion of slavery, 
346; Vice-President, 355. 

California ceded by Mexico, 371; gold 
discovered in, 371 ; admitted as a free 
State, 375. 

Canada occupied by the French, 187 ; in- 
vasions of, 194, 316, 319; Dominion of, 
332; population of, 336; growth of, 
339 ; divisions, 339 ; government, 339 ; 
Marquis of Lome, Governor, 512; 
area, 513; political status, 514; Prov- 
inces of, 515. 

Canadian winter, 63. 

Canals from Great Lakes to the Hud- 
son, 330. 

Cannibal prisoners sold as slaves, 50. 

Cannibals of South America, 49. 

Canonchet, chief of the Narragansetts, 
joins Philip, 123; taken prisoner, 124. 

Capitol, the, at Washington burned, 324 ; 
enlarged and adorned, 440. 

Cartier, Jacques, in the St. Lawrence, 51, 
63 ; founder of Canada, 59 ; voyages 

Cartmg, inconvenient habit of, 203. 

Carver, John, chosen Governor of Ply- 
mouth Colony, 99 ; presented to Mas- 
sasoit, 103. 

Cavaliers, the, sought refuge in Va., 178. 

Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg, 446. 

Census of the United States, 512. 

Centennial, the, at Philadelphia, 505. 

Champlain founds Quebec, 52 ; a guest at 
Port Royal, 86 ; relates his wonderful 
adventures, 89. 

Chancellorsville, battle of, 443. 

Charles I., 106, 109. 



Charles II., 139, 140. 

Charles River, 217. 

Charleston, S. C, joy in, over surrender 
of Fort Sumter, 412. 

Charter of Massachusetts withdrawn, 211. 

Chesapeake, French fleet in the, 297. 

Chesapeake and Shannon, fight between, 
320. 

" Chevy Chase," 265. 

Children bewitched, 160 ; bark like dogs, 
163. 

Chilson, Mary, 241. 

Christ Church, the old north meeting- 
house, 232. 

Christian Commission, the, 498. 

Chronological table, 521. 

Church, Capt., captures Annawon, 131. 

Church members electors in New Eng- 
land, 178. 

Cities and towns having a population of 
io.ooo and upward, 518. 

Citizenship, England's claim of, 314; not 
to be abridged in any State, 491. 

City Point a base of supplies, 458. 

Civil wars frequent in Europe, 55. 

Codfish in Mass. House of Representa- 
tives, 238. 

"Coil-made" pottery, 21; jar from So. 
Utah, 58. - _ 

College erected in Virginia, 76. 

Colonies, growth and government of the, 

177- 
Colony at Virginia massacred by Indians, 

^4> 75- ^ . , 
Columbus, Christopher, story of, 30. 
Commerce extinct,' 298 ; revived, 308, 

again prohibited, 316. 
Concord, ammunition at, 216; story of 

the fight at, 217 ; plan of roads at, 226; 

British loss at, 231. 
Concord River, 222. 
Confederacy, hollowness of the, proved, 

463- , . 

Confederate army, short of rations, 468. 
Confederate currency, depreciation of, 

455, 469- 

Confederates pardoned by the Govern- 
ment, 492. 

Confederation of the colonies, the first, 
114. 

Congress of the States, held at New York, 
207 ; at Philadelphia, 212. 

Congress, address to the king, 215 ; re- 
fused a hearing, 216. 

Congress, the, captured, 426. 

Conscience, freedom in matters of, 166. 

Conscription at the South, 468. 

Constitution, a written, adopted at James- 
town, 76. 

Constitution, Federal, adopted, 307 ; thir- 
teenth amendment adopted, 464 ; four- 
teenth amendment adopted, 491 ; fif- 
teenth amendment adopted, 505. 

Convention to organize the thirteen States, 
306. 

Converts, Indian, 118. 



Index. 



529 



Copp's Hill Burying-ground, 242. 

Core)', Giles, pressed to death, 163. 

Corn, five kernels to each person for one 
day, no. 
, Cornwallis, Lord, marches into Phila- 
delphia, 283 : surrender of, 298. 

Cortez captured Montezuma, 51. 

Cotton, John, 241. 

Cotton, high price of, 492. 

Cotton-gin, the story of the, 351. 

Cotton plant, 352. 

Cradle of LiJoerty, 237. 

Cradock Mansion, Medford, 12, 245. 

Craigie House, Longfellow's residence, 
245, 263. 

Creditors imprisoned in England, 151. 

Cromwell, Oliver, 106; supported by New 
England, 179. 

Cross set up on Labrador, 59 ; on Bay of 
Gaspe, 60. 

Crown Point, 249. 

Cumberland, the, destroyed, 426. 



Daill^, Peter, grave of, 242. 

Danes claim to be the builders of round 
arch tower at Newport, R. L, 16. 

Dare, Virginia, first white child born in 
America, 76. 

Davenport, John, 241. 

Davis, Isaac, at Concord fight, 225. 

Davis, Jefferson, President of the Con- 
federacy, 398 ; his inaugural, 403 ; 
curses breathed against, 469 ; flight 
from Richmond, 473 ; his capture, 489 ; 
set at liberty, 489. 

Declaration of Independence, 269. 

Debt incurred in putting down the Re- 
bellion, 502. 

Deerfield, Mass., sacked and burned, 335. 

Delaplace, Capt., 253. 

Delaware, Lord, reinforces the colony at 
Jamestown, 72. 

Demonology, King James's book on, 157. 

De Monts visits the Bay of Fundy, 86. 

Desertions from the Confederate army, 

459- 
De Soto, Ferdinand, expedition of, 41 ; 

discovers the Mississippi, 42 ; death of, 

42. 
Dickenson, John, in Congress, 215. 
Dighton, Mass., Writing Rock at, 14, 19. 
Discovery, the great, 29. 
Disloyalty of the Southern States, 397. 
Dog put to death for witchcraft, 160. 
Dominion of Canada, 339. 
Donnacona, King of Canada, 63. 
Dorchester Heights fortified, 264. 
Doric Hall, State House, Boston, 238. 
Dutch and Indian traders, 136. 
Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, 

136. 
Dutch villages on Long Island burned, 

'39- 
Duties imposed, 308. 



East India Company, 208, 211. 

Effects of the war, 289. 

Election of i860, 388. 

Elector, every church member an, 178. 

Eliot, John, 117. 

Ehzabeth, Queen, d,iscoveries in reign of, 

5^, 52. 
Emancipation Proclamation, 435 ; Earl 

Russell on, 436. 
Empire City, the, 140. 
English goods, resolution not to import, 

205. 
English government, ignorance and folly 

of, 203. 
English name, dislike to the, 203. 
English Parliament remind James I. of 

their" undoubted rights," 55; no obedi- 
ence due to from Americans, 204. 
English traders expelled from French 

territory, 187. 
England and France often at variance, 

187. 
England, rage in, at Braddock's defeat, 

194- 
Epidemic diseases in Europe, 55. 
Episcopal Church established in Virginia, 

76. 
Ericsson, Capt., 427. 

Europe closed to American vessels, 314. 
Europe during sixteenth century, 52. 
European war of 1740, 179. 
Evacuation of Boston, 265. 
" Evangeline," Longfellow's poem, 74. 
Eve of revolution, 202. 
Export of products forbidden, 203. 



Fairmount Park, 505. 

Faneuil, Peter, 242. 

Faneuil Hall, 237. 

Fall River, Mass., skeleton in armor 

found at, 15. ^ 

Farragut, Admiral, captures New Orleans, 

429. 
Fast proclaimed by House of Assembly, 

163. 
Fast-day proclaimed at approach of Quak- 
ers, 170. 
Fathers of New England imprisoned at 

Boston, England, 94. 
Feathers signify love, 152. 
Ferdinand, King of Aragon, 32. 
Fillmore, Millard, President, 375. 
Fingers, tender, of Virginia colonists 

blistered, 67. 
" First in the Foremost Line," poem, 453. 
Fishing, successful, no. 
Florida named by Ponce de Leon, 38 ; 

ceded to United States by Spain, 330. 
Flour, Washington brand, 182. 
Forest, clearing the, 68. 
Fort Detroit, surrender at, 316. 
Fort Duquesne, 189, 190. 
Fort Necessity, built by Washington, 188 ; 

Fort Pitt, 190. 
Fort Sumter, attack on, 411. 



34 



530 



You7ig Folks History of America. 



Fortress Monroe, 424. 

Fountain of yoiiih, 38. 

Fourth of July, 1826, 329. 

Fox, George, 173. 

France, sympathy of, for Americans, 280. 

Francis I. sends Cartier to Western Hem- 
isphere, 59, 60. * 

Franklin, Benjamin, 183 ; as boy and man, 
184 ; as man of science, 185 ; ambassa- 
dor, 186 ; commissioner at Paris, 290. 

Frederick of Prussia, 274. 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 439. 

Freedmen's Bureau established, 467. 

French settlements earlier than that at 
Jamestown, 332. 

French and Indian War, 335. 

French at Newfoundland, 37. 

French colonies, the, 187. 

French Directory, misunderstanding with, 

313- 
French in Canada, 37. 
Frog Lane, 236. 
Fugitive Slave Law passed, 375. 



Gage, Gen., sent to Boston, 212; sends 
troops to Lexington. 217 ; recalled, 263. 

Gallows Hill at Salem, 163. 

Garden of the continent, 336. 

Garfield, Gen. James A., elected Presi- 
dent, 506 ; inauguration, 509. 

Garrison, William Lloyd, starts his paper, 
356 ; mobbed in Boston, 357. 

Gaspe, Bay of, cross planted on shores 
of, 60. 

George II., 151. 

Georgia, 148 ; country between the Sa- 
vannah and the Altamaha, 152 ; sends 
money, rice, &c., to Boston, 245.^ 

German boy's funeral, 231. 

German mercenaries in New Jersey, 2S3. 

German Protestants join Oglethorpe, 152. 

Germantown, battle at, 284. 

Gettysburg, Gen. Lee's advance to, 445 ; 
battle of, 446. 

Ghent, treaty of, 325. 

Gibraltar, 14; besieged by Spain, 293. 

Gold discovered in California, 371 ; pre- 
mium on, 469. 

Goodwin, John, his children bewitched, 
163. 

Gosnold discovered Cape Cod, 51. 

Government, a central, needed, 302. 

Governments of the colonies, diversity 
in, 177. 

Governor appointed by the king, 179. 

Governor, functions of the colonial, 177. 

Granary Burying-ground, 241. 

Grand Pre, village of, 86. 

Grant, Gen., victorious in the West, 429; 
the William the Silent of the war, 440; 
put in command of the Union army, 
456; elected President, 502 ; re-elected, 

SOS- 
Great Britain has no written constitution, 
307; war declared against, 316. 



Greene, Gen., -297. 

Greene, Mrs. Gen., encourages Eli Whit- 
ney, 352. 

Grenviile, Lord, 204. 

Grievances of the colonies in common, 
177. 

Gult Stream, effect of, 37. 



Hair, long, considered unscriptural, 1x3. 

Hamilton, Alexander, entered the army, 
302 ; suggested a constitutional con- 
vention, 305 ; killed in duel wiih Aaron 
Burr, 305 ; Talleyrand's opinion of, 306; 
Secretary of the Treasury, member of 
an abolition society, 345. 

Hampden, John, farming in Buckingham- 
shire, 106. 

Hancock, John, at Lexington, 217 ; his 
grave, 242. 

Hancock House illuminated, 233, 238. 

Handel selected organ for King's Chapel, 
Boston, 241. 

Harlem evacuated by Washington, 276. 

Harper's Ferry, government works at, 
burned, 417 ; captured by Gen. Lee, 

436. 

Harrison, Wm. Henry, President, 363. 

Harvard College founded, 113. 

Hat makers not to employ negro work- 
men, 203. 

Haverhill, Mass , sacked and burned, 335. 

Hayes, Rutherford B., elected President, 

s°s- .... 

Henry VII., discoveries in reign of, 51- 
Henry VIII., discoveries in reign of, 51. 
Henry, Patrick, in Congress, 215. 
Hessians, 274. 

Hobomok, the Indian interpreter, 103. 
Hochelaga, Mount Royal, now Montreal, 

Holland, Pilgrims spend eleven years in, 
94 ; sail from Delfthaven in, 97. 

Hollis Street Church, 233. 

Homes in the new land, 51. 

Homestead Act passed, 440. 

Hooker, Gen. Joseph, in command, 442. 

Hopkins, the witch detector, 158. 

House of Commons, resolution to tax 
Americans, 204. 

Houston, Sam., President of Texas, 

353-3^1- , _, 

Howard, Gen., head of Freedman s Bu- 
reau, 467. 
Howe, Gen., in command, 263; at Staten 
Island, 275 ; retreats to New York, 

293- 
Howe, Mrs. Julia Ward, 451. 
Hudson, Henry, 136. 
Hudson River explored, 52. 
Hull, Gen., sentenced to be shot, 316. 
Human liberty, love of, drawn from the 

Bible, 113. 
Hunt, William H., Secretary of the Navy, 

Sii- ^ . 

Hymns composed by Indians, 118. 



Index. 



531 



Immigrants to California, 375. 

Impressment, 314. 

Increase ofllie colonists, 202. 

Indian chief, old, at Port Royal, 86. 

Indian corn a legal tender, 1 10. 

Indians, origin of the, 26 ; in council, 27 ; 
treatment of by De Soto, 41, 42 ; con- 
verted to Christianity, 8g ; efforts to 
christianize the, 117; encroached up- 
on by the whites, 119; three hung by 
the Puritans for murder, 120 ; allies of 
the French, 335 ; held as slaves, 344. 

Indignation in the North at the Rebellion, 

413- 
Infants, baptism of, i6g. 
"Innocence itself is not safe," 236. 
Interests of the colonies, in common, 177. 
Iron-clads, battle between, 427. 
Iron works forbidden, 203. 
Isabella, Queen of Spain, 32. 
Island of Atlantis, 13. 



Jackson, Gen. Andrew, at New Orleans, 
326; President, 355. 

Jackson, Thomas, "Stonewall," 423; 
death of, 443. 

James I. and Parliament, 55 ; a fool and 
a tyrant, 93. 

James II., 178. 

James of York, 139. 

James, Thomas L., Postmaster General, 
512. 

James River, emigrants sail up the, 67, 
424 ; Confederate iron-clad in, 426. 

Jamestown, Va., founded, 67. 

Jefferson, Thotnas, Vice-President, 313; 
President, 313; his death, 330; op- 
posed to slavery, 345. 

Jeffreys, the brutal Jucfge, 75 

Jesuits, contests between, and liberal 
Catholic priests, 89 ; the French, 332. 

Johnson, Andrew, President, 490. 

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 148 ; sale of his 
books, 151. 

" Join or die," 207. 

Joliet and Marquette discover the Missis- 
sippi, 332. 

Jones, Paul, on the Scotch coast, 293. 

Joy in the South over victories, 413. 

July 4, 1776, 270. 



Kansas, 376 ; fraudulent elections in, 
379 ; colonization by the party of free- 
dom, 380 ; admitted as a free State, 

. 380- 
King derives authority from people, 55 ; 

had divine authority, 56 ; claimed to 

regulate religious belief, 59. 
King's Chapel, 241. 
King's letter, the, 173. 
King William's War, 335. 
Kirkwood, Samuel J., Secretary of the 

Interior, 511. 



Knowledge, love of, among the Pilgrims, 

114. 
Knox, John, the reformer, 55. 



Labrador, Cabot lands on, 37 ; Cartier 
plants the cross on, 59. 

Lachine Rapids, 336. 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 281, 330. 

Lake St. Peter, 63. 

Land of promise, 372. 

Lands beyond the great ocean, 36. 

La Salle, Robert de, names Louisiana, 
332 ; lands in Texas, 335 ; treacher- 
ously shot, 335. 

Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, 106. 

Lawrence, Capt. , 320. 

Lawrence, Kan., invaded, 379. 

Lee, Richard Henry, in Congress, 215. 

Lee, Gen Robert E., Confederate com- 
mander, 422 ; Invades Maryland, 445 ; 
surrender to Grant, 474. 

Letters from the Pilgrims regarded as a 
"sacred script," 105. 

Leverett, Gov. John, 241. 

Lexington, story of the battle of, 217; 
British and American losses at, 231. 

Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., 451. 

Liberty, religious, 165. 

Liberty Tree, the, 232. 

Licking Valley, mounds in, 20, 21. 

Llllie, Theophilus, would sell tea, 234. 

Lincoln, Abraham, bust of, 238 ; enters 
Congress, 365 ; elected President, 391 ; 
story of his early life, 392 ; political 
career, 396 ; Inaugural, 402 ; his si- 
lence, 408 ; re-election, 467 ; visit to 
Richmond, 477 ; assassinated, 478 ; the 
people's grief for, 482- 

Lincoln, Robert T., Secretary of War, 

Liquors, Indians passion for, 117. 

Long Island, battle of, 276. 

Lome, Marquis of. Governor of Canada, 
512. 

Losses by American merchants, 314. 

Louisiana sold by France, 330, 353 ; abol- 
ishes slavery, 464. 

Lovejoy mobbed and killed at Alton, 111., 
357, 358- 

Machinery Hall, Philadelphia, 505. 

McClellan, Gen. George B., in command, 
421 ; on the Peninsula, 424; his fail- 
ure, 425 ; removed from command, 
439 ; nominated for President, 467. 

McDowell, Gen., at Bull Run, 419. 

MacVeagh, Wayne, Attorney General, 
512. 

Madison, James, President, 313 ; opposed 
to slavery, 345. 

Man responsible to God alone in relig- 
ious belief, 166. 

Manassas Junction, Confederate army at, 
417. 



532 



Young Folks'' History of America. 



Manhattan Island, 136. 

Manitoba, 339. 

Maria Theresa on the throne of Austria, 

179. 
Marietta, Ohio, mounds at, 17, 21. 
Mariner's compass, 29. 
Marquette and Joliet, 332. 
Martyrs of Liberty, honored, 49S. 
Maryland abolishes slavery, 464. 
Massachusetts, plot of the, to destroy the 

English, 106. 
Massasoit, story of, 99 ; visit to Plymouth, 

100 ; dangerous illness of, 103 ; death 

of, 106. 
Mastodon restored, 25. 
Matamoras, American fort near, 364. 
Mather family rest in Copp's Hill Bury- 

ing-ground, 242. 
Maytiovifer, the, in Cape Cod Bay, 98. 
Meade, Gen., in command, 445. 
"Meadows stretched to the eastward," 

84. 
Memorial Hall at Philadelphia, 505. 
Merriam's Corner, fight at, 230. 
Metacom and Wamsetta, sons of Massa- 
soit, 106. 
Mexican empire, the, 332. 
Mexican pyramids, ancient, 22. 
Mexican war, 363. 
Mexico, walled cities of, founded by an 

Asiatic race, 19 ; abolished slaverj', 

358; a republic, 363. 
Mexico, city of, ancient pyramids near, 

22. 
Militia called out, 414. 
Milton, John, 106. 
Mine, the, at Petersburg, 459. 
Mineral wealth of Missouri, 353. 
Minute-men at Lexington and Concord, 

222, 229. 
Misses, the, of Boston, refuse to drink tea, 

.23.4- . 
Mississippi abolishes slavery, 464. 
Mississippi River claimed by the French, 
. .^87. 
Missouri, territory of, 354 ; admitted as a 

slave State, 354 ; abolishes slavery, 

464. 
Missouri Compromise, the, 355 ; repealed, 

376. 
Monitor, the, and the Virginia, 427. 
Monroe, James, President, 355. 
Montcalm, death of, 201. 
Montgomery, Ala., the first Confederate 

capital, 422. 
Montreal, Indian settlement, Hochelaga, 

63 ; a city, 336. 
Mother country, the, affection for, 202. 
Mound at Cahokia, 111., 19; serpent 

mound, 20. 
Mound-builders, the, 19 ; descendants of 

crews from Japan, 22. 
Mounds at Marietta, Ohio, 17, 21 ; in the 

West and in Mississippi valley, 19 ; 

near Newark, Ohio, 20, 21 ; built by 

whom, 22 ; in Siberia, 25. 



Mount Hope, the burying-ground of the 

Narragansetts, loo. 
Mount Royal, now Montreal, 63. 
Mount Vernon, a shrine, 30J, 309. 



Napoleon overthrown, 324. 

Narragansetts, fort of, destroyed, 124. 

National bank established, 308. 

National cemeteries established, 496. 

Naval battles won by Americans, 319. 

Nebraska, 376. 

Negotiations for peace, 298. 

Negro cavalry, the first Union troops to 
enter Richmond, 473 . 

Negroes, the Confederate Congress re- 
fuses to arm, 469. 

New Amsterdam, 136. 

New England visited by old-time mari- 
ners, 14 ; two centuries ago, 90 ; a refuge 
for victims of tyranny, 109. 

New England States, government of, 1^8. 

Newfoundland, rich fisheries, 37 ; Cartier 
at, 59- 

New Jersey settlements conquered from 
the Swedes by the Dutch, 140. 

New Orleans, battle of, 326. 

New Orleans captured, 429. 

New Plymouth straightened for room, 
1 10. 

New York named from the Duke of York, 
140. 

North, Lord, 211. 

North American continent discovered by 
John Cabot, 37, 51. 

North bridge at Concord, 224. 

North Carolina rejects kingly authority, 
245 ; seceded reluctantly, 398. 

Nova Scotia, Acadia, 86. 



Oaths, punishment for, 68. 

Oglethorpe, James, 148; Edmund Burke's 
opinion of, 151 ; welcomed by the In- 
dians, 152. 

Ohio Company, the, 335. 

Ohio River valley claimed by France, 187 ; 
contest for, 188. 

Old South Church, 237. ' 

Old Testament the statute-book for New 
England, 113- 

Oliver, Elder Thomas, 241. 

Opechancanough challenged by Capt. 
Smith, 79. 

Opposition to troops passing through Bal- 
timore, 414. 

Orphan-house at Savannah, 155. 

Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion, 339. 

Pacific Railroad Bill passed, 440- 
Paddock elms, 242. 
Paine, Robert Treat, 242. 
Paine, Thomas, as a pamphleteer, 269. 
Pakenham, Sir Edward, killed at New 
Orleans, 326. 



Index. 



533 



Palenque, Mexico, sculptures found at, 19. 
Paper money, depreciation of, 289. 
Parker, Capt. John, at Lexington, 221. 
Parliament the real governing power, 148. 
Parris, Mr., and the Salem witchcraft, 

160 ; his removal, 164. 
" Parted many a toil-spent year," 118. 
Paspahegh, chief of, captured by Capt. 

Smith, 79. 
"Patriot's, the, Remembrances," poem, 

483- 
" Patriots', the. Unknown Graves, poem, 

497- 
Pea Ridge, battle of, 429. 
Peace, 486. 

Peace, thirty years of, 313. 
Penn, land of, 143. 
Penn, William, comes to America, 143 ; 

deals kindly with the Indians, 144 ; 

conference with the Indians, 147. 
Pennsylvania, career of, begins, 143 ; Gen. 

Lee ordered to invade, 445. 
Pequot emissaries and Roger Williams, 

169. 
Percy, Lord, meets British retreating from 

Concord, 231. 
Persecution and religious liberty, 165. 
Persecution of the Puritans, 109. 
Petersburg, siege of, 458 ; graves around, 

494- 
Phelps, Capt. Noah, 250. 
Philadelphia, 147. 
Philip, son of Massasoit, 106 ; death of, 

X27. 
Philip's, King, War, 117. 
Piillip's son sold into slavery in Bermuda, 

127. 
Phillips, Hon. John, 242. 
Phoenicia once ruled the waves, 13. 
Phcenician sailors go beyond the Pillars of 

Hercules, 14 ; cross the Atlantic, 19. 
Phoenicians, or Canaanites, had knowledge 

of a country beyond tlie sea, 13. 
Pierce, Franklin, a general in Mexican 

war, 365 ; President, 388. 
Pilgrims land at New Plymouth, 98. 
Pillars of Hercules, 14, 19. 
Pinzon, Martin Alonzo, 35. 
Pitcairn, Major, 221 ; buried in Christ 

Church, 242. 
Pitt, William, prime minister, 194 ; Earl 

of Chatham, 206. 
Pittsburg, 190. 
Plague among New England Indians, 

100. , 
Plymouth, New, founded, 98. 
Pocahontas saves Capt. Smith's life, 71 ; 
baptism and marriage, 72 ; story of, 76 ; 
received at English court, 83 ; death at 
Gravesend, 84. 
Pocasset, Weetamo, queen of, 128. 
Pocket-compass, Capt. Smith explains to 

the savages, 71. 
Polk, James K., President, 363. 
Ponce de Leon's expedition, 38, 51. 
Pope, Gen., defeated at Manassas, 436. 



Population and area of the States and 

Territories, 517. 
Port Hudson, 440. 
Port Royal, S. C., captured, 428. 
Port Royal, N. S., the Indians' love for 

the colony at, 89. 
Ports closed to foreign ships, 203. 
Potomac River, 424. 
Pottery, ancient pueblo, 21. 
Poutrincourt, Baron de, founds Port 

Royal, 86. 
Powder-house in Somerville, 245. 
Powhatan orders the death of Capt. 

Smith, 71. 
Preachers, Indian, ri8. 
Preface, 7. 

Prescott, Col., fortifies Bunker Hill, 254. 
Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the 

United States, table of, 516. 
Pricking with pins to discover witches, 157. 
Prince, Thomas, 242. 
Prince Edward Island, 339. 
Princeton, victory at, 280. 
Private, a, pays his regiment, 421. 
Proclamation of Emancipation, 435 ; its 

power, 463. 
Prosperity, 494. 
Providence founded by Roger Williams, 

166. 
Province House, 233. 
Pueblos, ruined, in Utah, discoveries at, 

21. 

Puritans, intolerance of the, 165 ; perse- 
cution of the, rog. 
Putnam, Israel, leaves his plough, 245. 



Quakers, fine for entertaining in Va., 76; 
persecuted at New Amsterdam, 139 ; 
chastised, 169 ; hanged, 173 ; first gen- 
eration differed. from succeeding ones, 
173 ; compensation to representatives 
of, 174; and Moravians opposed to 
war, 269. 

Quebec founded by the French, 51 ; cap- 
tured by Gen. Wolfe, 197; English 
victory at, 336. 



Races, the mysterious, 13. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, his colonies not suc- 
cessful, 64. 

Rapidan River, 456. 

Rebellion, the suppression of, a sacred 
duty, 420. 

Recruits for Washington. 283. 

Red-coats in Boston, 207. 

Regicides, the, sheltered in New England, 
179. 

Rehoboth, Annawon captured near, 132. 

Remonstrances of Congress, 216. 

Representatives cliosen by the people, 179. 

Resources of the North and South, 455. 

Restoration of the Union, 493. 

Revere, Paul, ride of, 217 ; captured, 218 ; 
grave of, 242. 



534 



Young Folks History of America. 



Revolution, the eve of, 202. 

Rhode Island founded by Roger Williams, 

J 65. 
Richmond, Va., the Confederate capital, 

422 ; capture of, 473. 
Right of search, 314. 
Riots in Boston, 207. 
Rise of the American government, 17S. 
Robinson, Edmund, his witch story, 158. 
Robinson, Mr., and his people seized by 

soldiers, 93 ; escaped to Holland, 94. 
Rolfe, John, marries Pocahontas, 72. 
Ross, Gen., captures Washington c-'.y, 

324- . . , 

Routledge, John, in Congress, 215. 
Royalists numerous in Philadelphia, 283. 



Saguenay River, 63. 

St. Charles River, 63. 

Saint Malo, Cartier sails from, 59, 63. 

Salamanca, wise men of, 32. 

Salem, 160. 

San PVancisco and New York united by 
rail, 502. 

Sanitary Commission, the, 498. 

Santa Anna attempts to recover Texas, 
361 ; commander in Mexican war, 366. 

Saratoga, Burgoyne's surrender at, 288. 

Savages of South America, 45. 

Savannah, Oglethorpe's settlement at, 
152 ; captured by Gen. Sherman, 460. 

Schenectady, massacre at, 335. 

Schools established by the Pilgrims, 113 

Scotch covenanters sold to be slaves in 
Virginia, 75. 

Scott, Gen., commander in Mexican war, 
365 ; captures the city of Mexico, 371. 

Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, well-reputed 
persons at, 93. 

Secession ordinances passed, 397 ; not 
unanimously, 398 ; reasons for seces- 
sion, 401. 

Senegal taken by the French, 293. 

Serpent mound near Brush Creek, Ohio, 
20. 

Seven Years' War ended, 204. 

Seward, Anna, 294. 

Seward, William H., attempted assassina- 
tion of, 478. 

Shenandoah valle}', campaign in the, 463. 

Shepherd Kings, who they were, 22. 

Sheridan, Gen. Phil., his ride from Win- 
chester, 463. 

Sherman, Gen., marches through Georgia, 
460, 

Ship built in Massachusetts, i lo. 

Ships of the early explorers, 45. 

Ships-of-war, five English, taken or de- 
stroyed, 319. 

Siberian elephant, 25. 

Sickness at New Plymouth, 98 ; of Mas- 
sasoit, 1.03. 

Sink-or-swim test for witches, 158. 

Skeleton in armor found at Fall River. 
Mass., 15 ; of Asiatic origin, 19. 



Slave States, most of the loyal freed them- 
selves from slavery, 464. 

Slavery forbidden in Georgia, 156 ; the 
story of, 340 ; un]:)rofitable at the Nortli, 
profitable at the South, 344 ; opposition 
tO) 345> 346 ; discussion of, forbidden at 
the South, 349 ; active hostility to, 355 ; 
claimed by divine right, 356 ; encour- 
aged by Northern people, 392 ; abolish- 
ment of, 464. 

Slaves, not persons but things, 350; fugi- 
tive, not free, 345 ; escaped, loyal, 431 ; 
of men in arms tree, 432. 

Slave-trade, suppression of, provided for 
in the Constitution, 340 ; encouraged by 
England, 340, 392 : horror.s of the, 343. 

Small-pox among English trooj:s, 263. 

Smith, Capt. John, 67 ; his cure for pro- 
fanity, 68; saved by Pocahontas, 71, 
So ; returns to England, 72 ; letter to 
the Queen, 80. 

Sneyd, Honora, 294. 

Snyder, Christopher, funeral of, 235. 

South bridge at Concord, 224. 

South Carolina passes an ordinance of 
secession, 397. 

South Kingston, R. I., Indian fort at, 123. 

Southern States, English in possession of, 
297. 

Sowamset, the home of Massasoit, 99. 

Spain joins France and America against 
England, 290. 

Spaniards in Florida, 41. 

Stamp Act, passage of the, 204; never 
came into force, 205 ; repealed, 206, 
231. 

Stamp distributors compelled to resign, 
205. 

Stamped paper burned and concealed, 
205. 

Standish, Capt. Miles, meets Massasoit, 
100. 

Starvation threatens the Pilgrims, no. 

Stephens, Alex. H., his speech at Sa- 
vannah, 404. 

Stone Tower, Old, at Newport, R. I., 15. 

Struggle, decisive, between French and 
English, 335. 

Stuart, Geo. H., president of the Christian 
Commission, 501. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, Governor of New Am- 
sterdam, 139. 

Suffrage, right of, secured, 505. 

Sullivan, Gov., 242. 

Sumner, Gov., 242. 

Sumner, Charles, bust of, '238 ; assaulted 
by Brooks, 387. 

Swanzey, several whites killed near, 120. 



Taunton, 131. 

Taylor, Gen. Zachary, on the Rio Grande, 

364 ; President, 375 ; career of, 392. 
Taxation oppressive, 325. 
Ta.xed tea arrives in Boston, 208. 
Taxes imposed on the Americans, 204. 



Index. 



535 



Tea, tax on, voted, 207 ; destruction of, 
21X ; tax levied on, 233; resolutions 
against use of, 233. 

Tennessee abolishes slavery, 464. 

Teocallis, or temples of the sun, 22. 

Terrors of Indian warfare, 123. 

Texas revolts Irom Mexico, 358; offers to 
join the United States, 361 ; admitted 
to the Union, 362. 

Ticonderoga, capture of Fort, 249. 

Tidbits of French cookery tossed to In- 
dian children, 86. 

Tobacco introduced into England, 75 ; 
used as currency, 75. 

Towns, new, founded, no. 

Tovvushend, Charles, virtual Prime Min- 
ister, proposed the lax on tea, 207. 

Trade with the colonies forbidden, 2x6. 

Treaty between France and America 
against England, 290. 

Trenton, victory at, 280. 

Tripoli, expedition against, 3x3. 

Tyler, John, President, 363. 

Union, the North fought to defend the, 

402. 
Union Pacific Railroad, 505. 
United colonies of New England, ir4. 
"Unknown Soldiers," graves of the, 494; 

tribute to the, 498. 

Valley Forge, Washington's army at, 

287. 
Van Buren, Martin, President, 362. 
Veneration for law, 307. 
Venezuelan village, 45. 
Vera Cruz, Americans land near, 365. 
Vespucius, Americus, lands at Venezuela, 

. 45- . 

Vicksburg, Miss., siege and capture of, 

. 440-. 
Virginia, story of, 64 ; character of the 
colonists, 72 ; governed by two coun- 
cils, 178 ; loyal to the Stuarts, X78 ; at 
first refused to secede, 398 ; seceded, 

.4 'A 
Virginia, the, Confederate iron-clad, 426. 
Virginia Company, charter granted to, 

Virginians bought no land, 75. 

Wall Street, 139. 
Walpole, Sir Robert, 148, 204. 
Wampanoags, Philip, King of, iig. 
Wampum, Philip's girdle and crown of, 

135- 
Wamsetta and Metacom, sons of Massa- 

soit, renamed, 106. 
War, end of the Revolutionary, 299. 
War of x8i2, 3x6. 
War of the Great Rebellion, 407 ; ended, 

474- 
Warren, Gen., 217. 

Washington, George, 179 ; his pedigree, 
. 180 ; education, 18 x ; accuracy as a 



surveyor, 182; no questionable trans- 
action ever alleged against him, 183 ; 
campaign in Ohio, 18S ; surrenders at 
Fort Necessity, 18S ; with Gen. Brad- 
dock, X89 ; member of Congress, 2x5 ; 
statue of, 238; memorial inscriptions, 
238 ; head-quarters, 245 ; moves to New 
York, 274 ; retreats into New Jersey, 
276; crosses the Delaware, 279; re- 
treats to Philadelphia, 279 ; at home, 
30X ; elected President, 308 ; death of, 
309 ; opposition to slavery, 345. 

Washington elm, 262. 

Washington, city of, the seat of govern- 
ment, 3x3 ; public buildings at, burned 
by the British, 324 ; thi'eatened capture 
of, 4x7. 

Watson's Hill, Plymouth, 100. 

Watt, James, invents the steam-engine, 

35'- 
Webster, Daniel, opposed to slavery, 361. 
Weetamo, Queen of Pocasset, 128 
Wesley, Charles, secretary to Oglethorpe, 

155- 

Wesley, John, 15X, 155. 

West India Islands, discovered by Colum- 
bus, 45. 

West Indies, lands in, given to slave- 
holders, 340. 

West Point, 293. 

West Virginia restored to the Union, 4x8. 

" When shall we three meet again? " xx8. 

Whitefield, George, in Georgia, J55. 

White House, the, pillaged and burned, 

324- 
Whitney, Eli, inventor of the cotton-gin, 

351) 353- 

Wilderness, the, 443, 456 ; battles m, 457. 

William and Mary, 241' 

William, Prince of Orange, 97. 

Williams, Roger, " godly and zealous," 
X65 ; a friend of Cromwell, 165 ; 
learned Dutch from Milton, x65 ; ban- 
ished, 166 ; and the Pequot emissa- 
ries, 169 

Winchester, battle of, 463. 

Windom, William, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, 511. 

Winslow, Edward, meets Massasoit, 100; 
doctors Massasoit when sick, X03. 

Winslow, Josiah, destroys Fort Narra- 
gansett, 124. 

Winthrop, Gov. John, 241. 

Wintlirop, Gov. John, Jr., 241. 

Witchcraft in New England, xS7. 

Witches, sticking pins to discover, 157; 
condemned to death, X58 ; hung, X63. 

Wolfe, Gen., at Quebec, J94. 

Writing Rock at Dighton, Mass., 14, 15; 
inscription of Asiatic origin, 19. 

"Yankee Doodle," 265. 
York River, 424. 

Yorktown, Cornwallis besieged at, 297 ; 
surrender of Cornwallis, 298, 424. 



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